The Prophecy
by Kalkoenvsneoklak
Summary: After deciding not to close the gates of Heaven, Castiel finds out he's dodged a bullet. Either way, he and Dean are finally together, Heaven has welcomed Castiel back, and things are looking good. But these good things can't last of course. Now Dean, Castiel and Sam try to escape the new fate Heaven seems to have planned out for them. (temp genderbend)
1. Chapter 1

It's three in the morning when Kevin Tran starts writing.

He just get up from bed, takes place at his desk, and scribbles down symbols one human soul wouldn't understand. Hell, he himself doesn't even understand what he's writing down. All he knows is that _not_ writing it down doesn't seem like a good idea. He just literally _can't_ stop.

The symbols go on and on, forming by a single twist and turn from the pen in his hand, and eventually he finishes, sitting back in his chair at the library in the Bunker.

How did he even get there?

Kevin gets ready to head back to bed, blaming his sudden appearance in the library as another strange Prophet-thing, and he knows he shouldn't question it too hard. As soon as he's at the door, a figure appears in front of him. It's a girl, about his age, with long black curls and serious brown eyes.

"How did you-?" he asks, but the girl holds up her hand to quiet him. Kevin closes his mouth, intrigued by her bluntness.

"Dean Winchester and the Angel Castiel, where do I find them?" she asks, making a lollipop appear from her pocket and putting it in her mouth. So, okay, she might have looked terrifying for a moment, but now Kevin's heart slows its beating again and he smiles at the girl.

"Who wants to know?" Kevin asks, unknowingly putting up a flirting tone, not even remembering that he needs to question how she even got in when the whole place is into lockdown. He figures it's just a dream, because pretty girls don't just appear out of nowhere. This must be one of those strange fantasies of his, though this one might literally be the strangest of them all.

"That's for me to know and for you to _not _know," she says, sounding literally disinterested. Kevin then shrugs.

"They've been on their honeymoon for about a month now," Kevin explains. "Not sure where they are or when they'll even return."

The girl looks him straight in the eye, raising an eyebrow and eventually pulling the lollypop out of her mouth. Man, that was disturbingly _hot_.

"I see," she says. Then she walks to the table where Kevin has left the notes he just wrote down, and picks them up, studying them. "I must take the prophecy home now, but I need to find the two soon," she then adds.

"Why?" Kevin asks.

"Because it's about them after all," the girl says, putting the lollypop back into her mouth and folding the piece of papers, winking at Kevin and then eventually disappearing. Like literally, one moment she's there, the other Kevin's looking at air.

He just shrugs it off as one of the strangest vivid dreams he's ever had and returns to bed.

* * *

_On the sixth day of the seventh month, a child, born of an Angel and a Righteous soul, shall bring peace to all the realms, becoming the new ruler of them all. Alongside both parents, they shall maintain order to the worlds, and when the time is right, it is this child that shall become the new deity the human race shall worship. So is God's will, and so it shall be._


	2. Can you spell 'love?

_One year earlier  
Houston, Texas  
Outside Dwight's bar_

Finding the Cupid has turned out differently than Dean has anticipated. Sure, okay, it's not as if he's really been expecting anything extraordinary or something, but this hadn't been what he had in mind.

As it turns out, it isn't always what it seems, and the way the two men look at each other is enough proof of that. The woman is the Cupid, and she just matched the two together.

Huh, so sexual orientation really isn't any trouble upstairs. That answers a lot of questions. Of course, it also proves a ton of homophobic people wrong.

What _is_ to be expected, is that Castiel jumps into action the moment they face the Cupid. To Dean's greatest dismay, he realizes that is something the Angel has learned from him. So after stopping Castiel from charging against the Cupid, they turn to talking instead. Castiel pulls his sword back, relaxes his muscles underneath Dean's hand where the hunter is still holding him, and he starts explaining.

"You think you can fix that?" the Cupid asks after hearing Castiel's plan. She looks at the Seraph in front of her in a curious expression. That's the way the Angels always stare, Dean has since long realized; as if they are trying to solve every mystery of the other being by studying them with this great intensity. Next to Dean, Castiel hardens his expression somehow, clamping his jaw shut as he puts his eyebrows in a frowning stand – which of course is only the way Castiel practically always looks, so there isn't much difference in that.

"In time, yes," he says after a little moment of silent thinking, and Dean's eyes stray away from the Cupid – no, Gail – to Castiel's profile. Dean can see how hard the Angel's expression is. It's his 'I-have-a-mission-and-I-will-not-fail'-expression, and once Castiel has come to that state, there isn't much that will make him change his mind about the mission. For a moment, Dean searches for any cracks, _any_ indication that, no, Castiel isn't really a hundred percent sure that he wants to do this. That he's hesitating about shutting the doors close and never returning to an Earth where Dean and Sam would be present.

When he gives up the search, his gaze turns back to Gail, not really sure what he's looking for. For a moment, their eyes meet, and somehow Dean feels like she's inspecting him, trying to figure him out. It's as if she's seeing something in Dean that nobody else can. Her face looks knowing, and Dean has the feeling that he has to feel embarrassed about it, but he just can't find any reason what she would know that he doesn't.

"Are you willing to leave this man forever for this cause, then?" Gail asks as she turns her head away to peer into the emptiness of the streets. Both the Angel and the hunter raise their eyebrows at the question, because what was this Angel implying here? For a moment, they make eye-contact, both coming to an understanding that neither understand the hidden message in her words. Then she continues as she pushes herself off the rail she was leaning against. She tilts her head a little bit, but it's subtle, and it's _so_ completely different from when Castiel does it. "You'll never see him again, you do realize that, right?"

Castiel's strong expression falls quickly as the words come through. The hard lines that were all over his face disappear, and his shoulders seem to drop as his gaze turns to Dean for a little second. The hunter could swear there's some strange, unknown emotion to be found in his expression, which is weird since Castiel isn't really one that shows much emotion in anything that happens around him. The way the Cupid seems to stare at him unnerves him as well. What is her problem? Why doesn't she just give him the bow and let things be how they're supposed to be?

"I realize, yes," Castiel finally mutters as he puts up another blank face, lifting his chin up in an attempt to look like it doesn't bother him at all that, no, he won't be seeing Dean again anytime soon. Then there's an uncomfortable silence between them all, and Dean takes that time to _really_ look at Castiel. The way this man – no, this Angel – has changed throughout the years is just proof that Castiel isn't like the other Angels. Castiel cares on a level that no other Angel has ever done. Despite him not aging, his borrowed face looks like it's older than when Dean first met him, as if the past of his sins are following him, haunting him. Dean won't ever deny that Castiel hasn't done bad things. Nobody will. But despite the good he has _also_ done, Castiel looks broken, sad most of the times. Dean can understand where that sentiment might come from, the feeling of such pressure that has been on the Angel's shoulder for all these years he's tried to redeem himself, trying to do the right thing but ending up doing something worse.

Yeah, that's actually kind of the family business.

Because, despite all the shit-ass trouble it has brought them, that's what Castiel is now; family. He's that extra part of their team that Dean has grown so used to in these past few years, those extra pair of eyes that keep close watch on the brothers whenever trouble comes ahead. And that same person that Dean has gotten so used to now is just at the point of leaving for ever, with no possible way of there ever being any form of reunion.

So when Dean tries to imagine a world without Castiel his heart flips over, leaving him with an empty feeling in his chest that seems to chew away the rest of his insides. All he can think of is that hug they shared in Purgatory, those small conversations in the motel-room while Sam was out. That way he smiled at him when he wanted to become a Hunter. The smallest of touches they have ever shared in that way-too-short time they've spend together.

But Dean can't speak, because Castiel wants to save _his_ family while he still can. And who is Dean to deny that to him?

"Are you sure that's what you really want, Castiel?" Gail asks as she comes closer to both of them. Still watching them intently as her feet move her forward, "Because the heart wants what the heart wants, and it's okay to be selfish when it comes to the matter of love."

In the corner of his eyes Dean can see Castiel look up in horror. He could be wrong, but the Angel's face seems to have a strange shade of red and his eyes have grown open wide. His mouth drops open, but except for a few gasps of breath nothing comes out. Dean doesn't like that helpless look on Castiel's face, but her talking has caught his attention.

"What're you talking about?" he asks.

"Dean, do you want Castiel to go?"

"Well, no, but-…" and then he stops, because it's like those words have crawled out of his mouth without any permission. "Eh-," Dean breathes out, feeling his face reddening at the realization that he just let this one thing he was going to keep quiet slip out anyway. With another frown, Castiel turns his head to Dean's direction. He doesn't look disturbed though; the surprise is clearly written on his face, but in this form it's more like disbelief rather than annoyance. "I mean…" Dean tries, but he can't come up with anything.

"Listen, I want Heaven to be restored as it's supposed to be as well, but it's no longer your battle," Gail starts to explain with a serious face. "You need to think about yourself for once, and trust that we'll work it out when the time is right."

For a moment, Dean and Castiel turn to look at each other, eyes connecting and unwilling to let each other go. Castiel looks kind of hopeless, as if he's anxious about something.

Then, Gail looks at Dean again, raising her head with a smile.

"The same counts for you, Dean Winchester. Think about yourself this one time, you might regret it later if you don't."

And then she flies away, the flapping sound of wings the only indication of her departure. Dean and Castiel don't even see it happening, because all they see is each other.

And for now, that's enough.

* * *

_Sioux Falls, South Dakota  
Two hours later_

"What do you mean you're not closing the gates of Heaven?" a very healthy-looking Sam asks when the two arrive back at the church. All Dean can do is shrug, and Castiel just looks straight ahead like he does most of the time. "What about restoring order upstairs?"

"We just decided to leave the details to the other Angels," Dean says as he leans against the Impala, turning to look at the Angel who bites his lip – a very human thing to do – and lowers his head. Both men have their hands hidden inside their pockets. Sam notices how Dean smiles at Castiel's appearance.

"But… Cas? You were all about cleaning up your mess? Why change your mind?"

And now the Angel looks back at Dean with a fond expression in his eyes, giving him a little smile. Is it Sam, or is he blushing? Do Angels even blush? What's happening?

"I've been instructed to be a little bit selfish. I'm simply following up orders," Castiel answers, leaving Sam with an even bigger question now. Just when he's about to ask, Dean cuts him to it.

"Since when do you take orders from a Cupid?" he asks with a wide smile on his face, and is Sam hallucinating or are those two standing really close to each other. And that look on Dean's face – oh, that's his flirting-look. Is he flirting with the Angel? What the Hell happened there?

"Okay, I'm simply following her suggestion then," Castiel corrects, and then they both smile at each other again, and Sam is at the verge of connecting the dots.

"Wait… are you-," Sam starts, not really sure if he would survive the consequences if he's wrong, "are you two together?" he finally dares asking while grinning, pointing first at Dean and then at Castiel. Dean's expression changes into one of shock at Sam's words, but Castiel's smile only grows wider.

"Your brother and I do have decided to take our friendship to a next level, if that's what you're asking," he answers, and now Dean looks at Castiel again, eyes wide, mouth fallen open and breath stuck in his throat.

"Dude, I thought we were going to keep this quiet until we were sure it would work out?" Dean bites at the Angel, pushing himself from the car as he turns to the Angel.

"But Dean," Castiel starts, putting up the weirdest and most innocent face he's ever made. "I'm not planning on this not working out, Dean," Castiel answers, and okay, that appears to be the right answer. Dean's smile returns, his cheeks color red again, and his eyes find the ground.

"Aww, how cute," Sam can't help but saying, grinning like crazy as he sees the scene before him. "You two finally pulled your heads out of your asses… It's about time."

And Dean turns his head towards his brother with a playful smirk written all over his face, cheeks still red from all the attention he's suddenly getting.

"Shut up, bitch," Dean says, and though it's subtle, Sam can see how Castiel's hand reaches up to touch Dean's, fingers resting against each other without there being any actual handholding. It's endearing how Castiel seems to yearn for that touch.

"Jerk," Sam finally remembers to say, feeling his face soften in an expression of pride. Because that's exactly what he's feeling; proud. Here Dean is, practically holding hands with the Angel that must have been in love with him for quite some time now, and the hunter isn't even looking panicked in the slightest.

A small sound appears from behind Sam, but it's only thanks to the expression on the faces of Dean and Cas that Sam realizes something has appeared behind him.

"There's someone behind me, isn't there?" he asks, almost annoyed that they can't even catch a break. He glances behind over his shoulder, trying to find what has those other two looking so disturbed in this moment of peace they were having.

Of course, standing there is the smartly dressed Angel that has helped them releasing Bobby's soul into Heaven. Naomi, Sam thinks it was. Out of reflex Sam reaches for his gun, knowing very well that the bullets inside won't hurt Naomi in the slightest.

Behind Sam, Castiel is literally fuming, face darkening in this threatening expression that the hunters have come to call Castiel's smiting-face.  
"I'm not here to fight you, Castiel," Naomi says, only earning her a deepened glare from Castiel. His jaws lock tightly together, and if it wasn't for Dean's hand on his, the Angel would probably already be charging against her. "Not anymore," she then adds, holding her hands out as if she's surrendering.

"You took Metatron," Castiel grumbles, voice almost as deadly as his face. "Where is he?"

Naomi takes a small step forward, but doesn't come any further than that because Castiel is literally growling behind Sam, which is kind of disturbing, come to think of it.

"He told you he was going to save Heaven, didn't he?" Naomi starts. "Murdering a Nephilim? Cutting off a Cupid's bow?"

Sam frowns a little bit, because those trials seem so much different than any of the trials Sam has undertaken. Sam's trials has only done good things; one less hellhound to worry about, an innocent soul rescued to the safety of Heaven, and the curing of a twisted soul, curing a demon back to humanity. Those has been good things; but murdering a Nephilim? Sam has never even heard from that kind of creature being evil? And cutting off a Cupid's bow? Taking away another Angel's ability to spread love around the world? Those aren't good things.

"It's a lie, all of it," Naomi continues, pulling Sam out of his train of thoughts. "I've been in his head-,"

"**You've been in _all_ our heads! That's the problem!**" Castiel shouts as he charges forward, but the hand he has been holding reaches up to touch Castiel on the chest and pushes him back against the car.

"Cas, calm down," Dean says, strangely in such a calming way that even Sam has to turn around to see what exactly is happening. "Listen, there's no need to worry, we stopped the trials," Dean finally explains after Castiel shakes his shoulders free and slumps back against the car.

"Those weren't trials," Naomi countered. "Ask your prophet to see what the tablet says."

And she has a point, because Dean has mentioned that Kevin is busy translating the tablet in an attempt to find out what the third trial would have been. Sam isn't even that surprised when Dean turns to him, telling him to call up Kevin.

"Right," Sam answers, reaching for his cellphone as Naomi continues talking.

"Metatron wasn't trying to fix Heaven, he was trying to break it," comes out, but her voice sounds sad, desperate. Sam can see that she's really trying to sound convincing.

"Okay, it's not like we are suddenly on your side, now," Dean says without removing his hand from Castiel's chest. "But whatever Metatron was planning, Cas stopped participating."

"So you didn't take the Cupid's bow?"

"We didn't," Dean voice says, and Sam misses whatever else is said when his call finally comes through. Kevin sounds tired as hell, voice cracking as he speaks.

"I think I found the Angel trials, but I don't see anything about a Nephilim or a Cupid's bow or anything like that," is the first thing the Prophet says even before Sam can ask. So Sam turns back around, closing in on the others with the phone still pressed against his ear, though Kevin doesn't say another thing, probably having fallen asleep.  
"Kev says that Metatron's trials don't match up with the ones on the tablet," Sam says as he shoots back a quick thanks to Kevin in case the Prophet is still awake, and then he hangs up. He can see the uncomfortable expression on Castiel's face.

"So you're right," he says, voice sounding disappointed. Sam can understand, though, because the Angel thought he could trust somebody. Who knows what could have happened if he had gone through with the 'trials'.

"I told you you could trust me," Naomi says with thick relief written all over her voice. "If you really want to know, he was going to cut out your grace, Castiel."

Castiel looks up at the other Angel with obvious betrayal in his eyes.

"I see that there is no more danger now, I can return to Heaven to deal with Metatron," Naomi continues, already turning as if she's going to walk away. "Castiel, you are welcome to return to your old position in Heaven if you want to."

Castiel only nods shortly, leaning a little bit against Dean. Sam can't remember ever seeing so much emotion written on his friend's face.

"And Sam?" Sam looks up, finding that Naomi is still there. "Congratulations on closing the gates of Hell."

Everybody smiles at that, because indeed; congratulations are in order. No more Demons? That's one _big_ accomplishment.

And then Naomi leaves with the fluttering of wings.

In the church, Crowley starts crying again.

* * *

_Heaven, one day later_

It's not without hesitation that Castiel returns back to the one-safe Heaven. At first he'd been unwilling to go, not sure if he was ready to face the other Angels again after almost being the cause of the destruction of their home.

But in the end, Dean has gotten into him.

"Listen, Cas, Naomi invited you back up, which means that you get a new start. If you want to go back for a while, go back, see how they will restore Heaven and help out whenever it's necessary," Dean has said.

And now that he's back where he has been practically all of his existence, he finds that he has another reason return.

He needs to face Metatron.

So here he is, standing outside the entrance of the dungeons where Inias has lead him to, lingering a little bit as he tries to postpone the inevitable confrontation.

"He's been waiting for you," Inias suddenly says, and Castiel startles as he realizes that the Angel is still standing behind him. Inias looks friendly enough, and Castiel remembers that the last time they saw each other, Castiel was crazy.

"That's what I was fearing," Castiel confesses, sighing loudly as his hand reaches for the door. With a faint push, it flies open.

The dungeons are as they have always been, dark but light at the same time, unbreakable from the inside. No-one has ever managed to escape so far, and it should really stay that way.

The moment Metatron sees Castiel approach, the Scribe grins widely. Castiel is glad that Inias has followed him inside, because he doesn't know if he can keep himself from throwing his Angel blade at the Angel inside.

"Well hello, Castiel," Metatron says. Despite that his plans have failed, he doesn't sound disappointed in any way. Castiel doesn't like it. Metatron sounds way too pleased for a prisoner. "I was wondering when you would show up. You missed our little appointment."

Castiel frowns and throws one look back at Inias, who only shrugs, blade ready in case Metatron would try something stupid.

"I have not come here for your riddles," Castiel finally says, keeping his head up high in a way to look superior to the Scribe. "I just need to know why."

"You know why," Metatron bites, suddenly less calm. His voice is trembling, and he's shaking his head rather quickly. His tongue passes over his lips and a deep but unnecessary breath passes through his vessel's lungs. "All of you are ruining Heaven, taking away the glory it once had. The only solution was to get all of you out of there."

Castiel doesn't answer when Metatron stops speaking, simply because he has nothing to add. Or maybe that's not true; he does still want to know why he was chosen for this task. Why did it have to be Castiel?

It appears that the question can be read from Castiel's face, because Metatron answers it for him.

"Couldn't connect the dots, Castiel?" Metatron sounds too smug, but he also sounds insane at the same time. He lies back down on the stone that represents itself as a bed – which isn't really something an Angel would need as they don't sleep. "A _nephilim_? A _Cupid's_ bow? You can spell, right? L O V E, what does that spell?"

Castiel frowns again, not really wanting to give Metatron the satisfaction of giving him an answer. He doesn't want to play along with his childish games, so he keeps his lips sealed tightly.

"Love?" Inias answers for him hesitantly.

Metatron sits back up, holding out his hands in a agreeing way. "Love," he repeats.

"What does love have to do with it?" Castiel asks in a growl, causing Metatron to shake his head in a dismissive way.

"You're hopeless," he says. "I needed your Grace because it is the Grace of an Angel who has felt a love differently from the way we were _supposed_ to love."

"What are you implying here?" Castiel asks, although he can almost guess what it's all about here.

"Us Angels, we have love programmed into ourselves," Metatron explains. "We love our Father, we love the other Angels, and we love humanity."

"So?"

"So, you don't just _love_ humanity; you're _in_ love with it, or more precisely, in love with our precious little Righteous Man down there."

Castiel nods in understanding, but turns his head away, giving Inias a quick look. The other Angel nods as well, offering a small smile as he accepts whatever Metatron is accusing Castiel off, while other Angels would have reacted disgusted.

"What, you're not going to prove me wrong?" Metatron asks from the moment Castiel takes his first step towards the doors of the dungeon. Immediately, Castiel stills, casting a look over his shoulder to meet Metatron's gaze.

"My love for Dean has never been a secret," Castiel says. And then a smile forms on his lips as the words come out. Because he loves Dean, and they're together now. And Castiel already longs to return back to Earth, to get to feel Dean's lips against his own for the first time.

With a fast goodbye he greets Inias once more, ignoring Metatron shouting back at him. Then he takes flight.


	3. More people know

For the first few days, all Crowley does is crying.

He cries when he wakes up, cries when he's finished eating something, and he cries at the smallest insult that passes in a dialogue on TV.

Taking the very emotional Crowley in the bunker had been one of Sam's genius ideas, to which both Dean and Kevin had greatly disagreed on when he first came up with it. At this point, the last thing they need is a depressed ex-demon bursting into tears with every word that is spoken against him.

"We can't just leave him in the world like that? Who knows what he'll do to himself!" Sam had shouted.

"After everything he's done, he should be lucky we don't cut his throat!" Dean had countered. Crowley had cried at that.

"We don't kill humans," Sam finally said, putting that whole discussion to a rest.

So the moment they had arrived at the bunker, Sam had lead Crowley to one of the empty bedrooms, offering him the stuff he needed, and they left him alone after that.

Crowley, on his turn, keeps away from everybody. It's not sure whether it's because he's shy, or because he's embarrassed. It could also be because he secretly despises everybody around him – hey, the guy was a dick before he even became a demon, so it's safe to say that the moment he gets back on his feet, he will most likely have his 'charming' personality back.

Kevin, in the meantime, is again reunited with his mother – who is miraculously still alive. Both hunters agreed to let him stay with her while he recovers from the side-effects of intensive tablet reading; for some reason he keeps on saying 'falafe' according to Dean.

So, here they finally are; back in the bunker. Crowley is who knows where crying away all his sorrows of his sins. Castiel still hasn't returned from Heaven since he went to question Metatron, though he's only one prayer away. And Dean and Sam are both completely fine for once, finally enjoying this little free time they have before the storm of hunting hits again.

Of course, Dean's idea of 'free time' is mostly seen as watching some movies, a whole season of Game of Thrones, or even just having a drink with his brother. Sam's idea is slightly different, though.

The moment Dean arrives back home from driving Kevin and Mrs. Tran, it starts.

_Talking_…

"Heard from Cas?"

Dean stops walking forward as he hears the question they've both so wonderfully avoided in the past few days. It hasn't even been a week and Sam already gets nosy.

It's not that Dean is angry that Castiel isn't with them, heck, he's the one who convinced the Angel to go in the first place. The thing that gets him anxious about this talk is the reality that him and Cas are actually in fact together, like, there's no more denying in it.

Dean isn't second guessing his newly build relationship with Castiel, not at all. But that doesn't mean that he's immediately open to talk about it.

"No, Sam. I'm not praying for him unless we have a good reason for it," Dean says as he drops the bag with his new DVD-box of Game of Thrones. He ignores the annoyed expression he receives from his brother and drops his head to the floor.

"Dean…?" Sam asks, and there really isn't a question, but still Dean knows what his idiot brother means.

"Look, I'm not skipping out on him, I'm not trying to push him away already!" Dean snaps, throwing his arms in the air in annoyance. "Nobody wants him here more than I do, okay? But he just needed to finish this one thing before he could return home."

"U-huh," Sam lets out with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. Dean understands why his brother is so skeptic, though. He had once called it _commitment issues_, and Dean has hated that noun the moment his brother first pronounced it.

This is not going to end up in a self-fulfilling prophecy; that he knows the relationship is going to fail, that whatever decision he makes will end up in a nasty break-up.

Holy cow, Dean already gets the chill at the idea of having an Angel as an angry ex.

"Anyway," Sam suddenly continues, "I found these strange cables underneath this table, and it kind of got me thinking." At this he points at the table Dean dropped his bag on. Immediately, the older hunter eyes it suspiciously.

"Why the hell were you under that table?" Dean asks, not really needing an answer to that but more in a way to annoy his little brother. It seems to be working, though, when Crowley's sobs sound clearly from the hallway. Dean wiggles his eyebrows, which earns him another bitchface in return.

"Dean, your mind is disgusting and I don't know how Cas is ever going to put up with you," Sam shoots back. Dean only grins further as he kneels down to check under that table as well. "But to get to the actual point; I followed these cables, and you're never gonna believe what I found."

Sam, being an irritating little brother, rather stays mysterious. He nods sideways, and without any explanation he starts walking out of the main room.

"Oh so you're gonna be all cryptic about this now?" Dean asks, being actually kind of curious as to what Sam has found at the end of these cables they are currently following. They are quite well hidden; neatly tucked back against the border of the floor, kind of camouflaged by the color of the walls painted all over them.

And Sam just keeps on walking. No matter how much Dean insists on his little brother speaking up, the hunter keeps quiet.

Until they finally arrive at a room at the end of a hallway they've never really been before. Sam opens up the door, turning on the light before holding out his arms in front of him.

"Voilà," he says.

Whatever image Dean has been preparing himself for, this is not it. It's like he's walked straight into an old science fiction movies where the heroes invade the evil doctor's lab filled with old machinery that was modern back in the days.

But at the same time, it kind of looked like some strange control panel from a submarine or whatever.

"This is a computer?" Dean asks as he turns back to his brother slightly. The younger Winchester is tucking the sleeve of his flannel shirt back up.

"Yeah – or it was in 1951 when it was installed," Sam says. Dean lets his curiosity get the better of him and he starts walking again as he turns to inspect every little thing on these machines a little more closely. Sam follows him while he continues speaking. "Now, here's the crazy thing; it's not plugged in to anything and yet these little lights are still burning. I mean, I have no idea what's making this thing work"

As they get to the back of the computer, Dean passes his hand over the surface of the machine. At first all he feels is the touch of metal, but there's something more he notices.

"It's warm here," Dean says as he frowns. Okay, so his brother is right. Definitely something weird here. Sam reaches his hand out as well to see if Dean is right, which of course, he is.

Dean checks out the backside of the computer a little more closely, seeing that he can pull away the plate to check the control panel from the inside. Immediately, he turns around, seeing if there's any gear small enough in here that he can use for it.

Luckily for him, on one of the shelves, there's an old, dusted screwdriver – which, huh, comes in handy, Dean thinks. He takes the thing, stares at it in surprise, but then decides not to question his luck in finding one so easily. He returns to the computer where Sam is still comparing the warmth of the metal to another part of the machine.

When Dean presses the screwdriver in the split, Sam carefully takes a step backwards, keeping his face in a strange worried expression. His eyebrows crook deeper the harder Dean pushes the thing open. After a giant pull, the panel pops off. Dean loses his stand and stumbles back into the shelf behind him. Without either of the boys noticing, a bottle filled with some unknown grey liquid knocks over.

"Got it," Dean huffs as he settles down again. Both hunters kneel down in front of the now-opened back of the computer. Quickly, Sam pulls out a flashlight from his pocket, clicking it on before facing it to the piece of machinery in front of them.

"Huh," Sam lets out, as equally surprised at seeing the giant amount of new wires and more unknown parts.

Dean feels an uneasy grin come up in his lips. "Well, that looks simple. Does it come with a manual?" he asks sarcastically.

"Nothing in the archives, and I obviously couldn't find anything like it online," Sam says while they both still inspect the back of the computer. "Not to mention I'm pretty sure that the Men of Letters doesn't exactly have I.T. support anymore, either."

For a moment, both men stay quiet as Dean thinks.

"I think I know somebody who could help up," he finally says. He starts getting up, earning him a surprised expression from Sam. "Come on."

"Who? Cas?" the younger hunter asks as he makes his move to stand up as well, already on his way to follow his brother back outside. In response, Dean turns his head around and rolls his eyes at his brother.

"Dude, you really think we should let Cas toy around with these devices? He would probably break it by simply touching it, knowing his luck."

Sam only shrugs but his lips curl a little upward in amusement.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in Heaven_

Avoiding the dungeon has been Castiel's main priority since the moment he returned back to his old post. The thing Castiel mainly wants to prevent is to be further manipulated by Metatron's words and empty promises.

So, even though mostly against his will, Castiel joins Naomi in rebuilding Heaven back to its old self, and attempting to make it even better. Which, of course, isn't that easy since most of the Angels agree that the biggest reason they even need all this work done is obviously Castiel. Even the Angel in question agrees to that, much to his dismay and embarrassment.

So, for now, Castiel practically flies alone, following other Angels around as they try to discuss new measurements that need to be done. Castiel has noticed that some Angels are in an attempt to becoming the new leader of Heaven until their Holy Father returns back from missing, but Castiel knows that putting blind faith in some random Angel who is hungry for power will once again lead to another monarchy in Heaven, which in turn will lead to new situations like with Michael.

Naomi has kept her promise; Castiel has his rank fully restored, and should he want so, he could have his garrison back. But in the agreement they made in Heaven, Naomi had expressed that Castiel too could have a say in these meetings that are solely focused on finding better ways to run Heaven.

Her intentions have been good, Castiel understands that, but neither of them have thought of the fact that probably nobody would want to hear Castiel's opinion on anything. And so, when they're all in another discussion as to who should take control until God returns, Castiel's words not really fall onto deaf ears, but rather get some harsh disagreement in return.

"If we want to avoid another tyranny up here – no offense, of course," Castiel says, shooting an apologetic glance at Naomi who just waves the possible insult off, "then we shouldn't just _let_ another Angel, no matter how strong they are, take control of things here. In my opinion, we should let all of us choose who could become the better leader. Each of us have good ideas, but also some things others might disagree on, so instead of forcing these things on others, let them choose themselves?"

"So what, have an election? Is _that_ what you're saying here?" Malachi asks with obvious disgust layered over his voice. He is not inside a vessel, but Castiel can read the emotions on his many faces quite well. His grace seems to be burning, giving Castiel an uncomfortable feeling.

"That is such a human thing to do," Bartholomew adds to it, face also scrunched in a look of dismay and horror. "Why should we lower ourselves in such an act?"

"Yes, it is indeed how most countries on Earth decide to do it," Castiel says, not liking how his voice seems to shiver for a moment. "But it has proven that it works; candidates present the citizens what they want to make better in their country; what they want to change or remove completely. In the end it's the people who choose what plan of action they want the most."

"Yes, but those candidates often lie; we all know most of their promises are out of their capability!" Malachi bites. From his bear face, a loud growl comes out. In return, other Angels start to hiss back at him because of his sudden outburst. "Not to add that the candidate with the most votes wins in the end, so there will be a big part that won't get what they want."

"But Castiel has a point," suddenly comes out at the end of the table. In surprise, most Angels turn around, to find Ezekiel stare at Castiel with interest. "Everybody who wants to try to run can make their own plan of action, then they will present it to other Angels, and eventually the Angels will decide what will be best for them. Yeah, indeed some Angels will vote for the one who won't win, but in the end it might be clear that the better solution wins, right?"

The table remains in a thick silence after that, but not because they are actually thinking about it. Even Castiel has to admit he's currently speechless from the turn of events that have suddenly happened.

Then, Naomi finally speaks up, breaking that awkward silence. "How about we let this proposition sink in for a moment, and we'll continue this meeting later? Because right now we won't be able to find an answer as long as nobody has thought this through."

And everybody nods, then, already flying away before Castiel could even get up. He knows, though, that it's because of him that they get away that quickly. They don't want him here, and he could totally understand that. Still, that doesn't mean that it isn't hurtful.

To his biggest relief, Ezekiel is still present. Quickly, Castiel hurries back to him. The Angel's grace is shining brightly, so at least he doesn't seem annoyed or anything from Castiel's presence.

"Ezekiel," Castiel begins, which earns him the attention of the Angel in question.

"Castiel," he greets in all the politeness Castiel never really thought he could receive by now.

"I just wanted to thank you for giving my idea a chance," Castiel says, slightly bowing his head in a thankful way. Ezekiel seems amused by what he said.

"Your idea was a good one, Castiel," Ezekiel says. "I know you have had trouble when trying to fix our home, but I think you'll find it'll be easier if you let other Angels help you."

Castiel nods, agreeing at last that maybe indeed he doesn't have to be Heaven's savior all on his own.

"But don't you have a human to return to? We'll alert you when this meeting continues," Ezekiel continues, nodding at Castiel in return. Castiel feels his lips curl upward into a smile, which surprises him. Ezekiel is right; he must have been gone for a while now. It would be great to finally see Dean again.

"You're right. Thank you, Ezekiel," Castiel says, already preparing his wings for flight. After receiving another friendly nod from the other Angel, Castiel finally moves to the air, letting the wind go through the feathers of his wings.

It doesn't take much thinking for him to set course for Earth, and as soon as he gets there, he focusses on the Bunker, which is located in Lebanon, Kansas. Touching the ground gives him some feeling of relief, but that's probably just because he's close to Dean again.

With a quick scan in the bunker, Castiel can make out that there are four humans currently present inside; Dean, Sam, Kevin and probably Crowley as well. Of course, Castiel doesn't pay much attention to the other souls, but follows Dean's instead.

Of course, to spare Dean the 'heart attack', as he likes to call it, Castiel decides to walk. The pull from Dean's soul gets stronger when he gets closer to the kitchen, so Castiel figures he's preparing dinner or something.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel says after closing the door behind him loud enough. With a sudden turn, Dean faces Castiel. His eyes are wide and his mouth has dropped open. Whatever he's preparing, he's dropping it to walk closer to the Angel.

"Cas, you're home," Dean says, sounding relieved as he speaks, which is kind of comforting. When Dean's arms wrap around him in a strong hug, Castiel leans into the touch. His head rests on Dean's shoulder. A small smile appears on his face when he gladly accepts the warm, fluttering feeling in his stomach.

"Only for a little while, but I don't think it will take any longer now," Castiel explains, not letting go of Dean.

"So, how's Heaven?" Dean asks against Castiel's ear. His hand slowly passes over his back, and they finally pull back slightly, only to look each other in the eyes. Castiel can feel Dean's breath pass over his skin. They've never been this close before, but Castiel really likes this.

"It's okay," Castiel says, not wanting to worry Dean with the current situation upstairs. Instead he lets his hand find Dean's, and he tangles their fingers together.

"Hey, we were going to watch _Game of Thrones_," Dean suddenly says, pulling back from Castiel completely, leaving Castiel a little taken aback from the sudden distance between their faces. "You want to join?"

If watching whatever Dean speaks of means that they can spend some time together, Castiel won't really find it in himself to say no. So, that's how they get themselves in Sam's bedroom with the TV put in front of the bed. Castiel gets introduced to this eccentric woman called Charlie, and he gets a friendly hug from Sam, who seems glad as well that he's returned. Castiel is seated between Dean and Charlie, but Sam seems to have chosen his desk chair instead – which is only good because the three of them only fit on the bed because Castiel is pressed so close against Dean.

The episode they're watching is not really what Castiel would have expected, but he has to admit that it's really good. So, the first episode turns into the second one, and by the time they've gotten to the third, Dean pauses the episode.

"Wow, that Joffrey's a dick," Dean suddenly says, and Castiel suddenly sits up again. Without being aware of it he's been leaning his head against Dean's shoulder.

"Oh, you have no idea," Charlie says with a laugh. "Wait until he-…"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Sam suddenly calls out, earning everybody's attention. "Spoilers! I haven't read all the books yet!"

"There are books?" Castiel asks in a frown.

"You're gonna read the books?" Dean asks his brother, nudging Castiel playfully against his shoulder, fingers tightening their hold of their fingers interlocked with each other. For a moment, Castiel wants to pull their hands up and press the back of Dean's against his lips for a quick kiss, but Dean seems intent on keeping their hold hidden between their bodies. Castiel figures it's because of Charlie; of course Dean wouldn't be ready to parade their relationship around just yet.

"Yes, Dean, I like to read books," Sam shoots back. "You know, the ones without pictures?"

At that, Dean throws his brother a very annoyed look, but both Charlie and Castiel laugh at the insult. In protest, Dean pulls his hand free and crosses his arms instead, pretending to sulk from being laughed at.

"Well, anyway, this bed is about as comfortable as a brick," Charlie suddenly says, and with that she gets up. Both Dean and Castiel look down to check the mattress, and Dean even touches it to check if she's true. Castiel doesn't really find the comparison to a stone. "Any plans on moving in anytime soon?"

Sam seems to be taken aback from that question at first, frowning at Charlie but eventually leaning back again. "I am moved in. This is just my style," he explains.

"Yeah, this is his, uh, style," Dean adds dryly after that.

"I don't understand, Sam just said that? Why would you repeat it then?" Castiel asks in confusion. Dean lets out a sigh that is stuck between amusement and annoyance. His hand finds Castiel's again, but he doesn't explain it.

"Well, I'm sorry I haven't hung up the, uh, 'Hang in there, kitty" poster yet, Dean. Feel free to redecorate." Castiel can feel that Sam is annoyed, but he doesn't understand why. Is he frustrated because he wants that poster? Does he want Dean to buy it for him? Maybe Castiel could go look for it? Next time he's away, he'll come back with that specific poster. That should cheer Sam back up.

"So what, our home's not good enough for the 'hang in there, kitty' poster?"

Okay, now Castiel is lost. Does Dean want that poster as well? He should really find out what is so special about that specific object they both seem to want.

Before he can ask them about it, he feels a familiar pull against his Grace. That could only mean that a new meeting will start soon. With reluctance he lets go of Dean's hand again, getting up as well. Charlie throws him an awkward look, to which the Angel can relate whenever the two brother get into an argument.

"I'm needed in Heaven again," Castiel says, only looking at Dean really. He needs to know whether or not Dean's okay with him leaving so soon.

"Oh," is all Dean gets out. He gets up as well, then, motioning for Castiel to follow him when he turns to the door. The Angel obliges, nodding shortly at Sam and Charlie in a way of saying goodbye. Charlie waves at him in return.

"It was nice to meet you!" he can hear just before he passes through the door. The words warm his insides, and a new smile appears on his face again. In the hallway, Dean is already waiting for him. The moment Castiel is standing in front of him, he's pulled in another hug.

"You do your best upstairs, okay?" Dean asks against his ear. "No matter what they say, you're the best Angel there."

"You know that's not true," Castiel talks back, pressing his face in Dean's shoulder. "After all I've done, I could easily be called the worst of them all."

A hand touches the back of Castiel's neck, which is a very pleasant feeling. In Sam's room, the other two are still talking in hushed voices, but Castiel ignores them now that he has Dean so close to him.

"For me you are the best," Dean says in a whisper. It's so weird to hear Dean talk so fondly about anybody else than Sam. It feels kind of good, makes Castiel love the hunter even more. Of course, to avoid having a panicked hunter with him, he keeps his mouth shut about that.

"Thank you, Dean," Castiel responds as he pulls his face back, purposely keeping their lips right next to each other's, hoping that he would finally feel Dean's against his. It's what he's been waiting for ever since they got together, but so far the occasion has never occurred.

"No problem, man," Dean answers, and at last, they kiss.

It's like Castiel is at the verge of exploding; his inside burn so hard – in a good way, of course – and his Grace reaches out to Dean, willing to creep inside the Hunter's body and snuggle close against his bright and beautiful soul.

Dean's lips are so addictive that Castiel can't find it in himself to pull back. As both their breathing fastens, Castiel feels Dean's tongue push against his front teeth, and in some sort of reflex Castiel opens his mouth to allow Dean in.

"Uh," someone suddenly coughs behind them, and quickly the pair pull apart, making a quick turn to find Charlie standing there awkwardly. The hands that were still holding on now let go. Dean's face is colored red in embarrassment.

"Eh, congratulations?" Charlie asks hesitantly. To Castiel's biggest relief, Dean doesn't deny anything that has happened here.

"Thanks," he says instead. Then he turns his head back towards Castiel's and presses one more quick kiss on his mouth. "You, come back home soon."

Castiel can only nod before letting his wings back out again. He can still hear what they say next.

"So you and Cas-?"

"Don't."

After that, he doesn't hear anything. The moment he arrives back in the familiar surroundings of Heaven, he's greeted by Inias again. The Angel looks at him in that same friendly way he's always had in Castiel's presence. That of course is really comforting to Castiel.

"Hello, Inias," Castiel greets him, receiving a nod in return. Inias doesn't speak as he nods his head sideways in a gesture to follow him. Without asking any questions, Castiel does. They pass the prison again on the way to their destination, and for a moment Castiel remains still, silently watching the place that holds Metatron behind bars.

"Has he said anything further?"

Inias only shakes his head.

"Nothing important; he's been trying to anger up his neighbor, but so far Gadreel has only been unresponsive to him."

Castiel nods faintly. He's not really assured that nothing could happen here; Metatron can still come up with some plan to escape, and that's the last thing they want. It would even be worse if Gadreel were to escape as well.

"Come on, Malachi's really annoyed so we should hurry."

And so they're on their way again, moving to Naomi's strict chamber that represents their main meeting-room for cases like these. The Angels that are present are the Angels who have chosen for it; literally everybody is welcome, so that's probably why it has taken so long for them to come to even a single idea everybody could agree on.

Seeing that the majority of the Angels in the room represent more than half of Heaven's population, it's obvious that Castiel is not really a welcome presence to most of them. With embarrassment he recalls his days spent charged up with all the souls from Purgatory, remembering how he ended thousands of his brothers and sisters lives with just the snap of his two fingers.

Still, he keeps his head up high as he sits down between Inias and Azrael. The latter just ignores him, which Castiel can live with. He takes a deep but unnecessary breath when Naomi calls out for order, and immediately after that the whole room is quiet. It's kind of a chaos, and there are so many Angels present, but luckily they can all hear each other perfectly fine no matter how far away they're seated.

"Now, we've had some time to think about Castiel's proposition, now shall we see what other opinions on the matter are."

To Castiel's biggest surprise, the majority of all the Angels raise their hands when they're asked to if they agree. Most of them look bitter though, so Castiel knows they aren't really content where the idea came from, no matter how good it might be.

"Seems like this answer is obvious enough," Naomi then says. She turns her head to Castiel. "Then we shall discuss further steps we have to take to make this whole process happen perfectly."

Castiel knows that she wants him to supervise the whole thing, but that isn't really what he signed on for. He's at the verge of speaking up, but Ezekiel beats him to it.

"I'd like to run as candidate," he says, and his name suddenly appears on a board behind Naomi, who turns around in surprise to see the sudden addition in the room. While Castiel has expected a storm of other Angels lining up to sign on as well, only a few actually do, making the board strangely emptier than anticipated.

"And you, Castiel? Are you making yourself a candidate as well?" Azrael suddenly asks next to him. Castiel startles a little as he hears the Angel in the female vessel talk. He'd really thought she was all about ignoring him.

"No, being the leader hasn't really been a good thing I've ever offered Heaven," Castiel answers after a few moments of thinking. Azrael snorts at that but doesn't press further. Naomi starts to talk again, trying to lay down some basic rules for the whole thing with the other Angels, but Castiel's mind travels somewhere else.

It's Dean; he seems panicked for some reason, unintentionally calling for Castiel by even just thinking of him. It unsettles the Angel extremely, causing him to fidget a little bit in his seat. Inias throws him a worried glance, which Castiel ignores as he tries to listen to Naomi again.

_Cas, please come home, Charlie's down and I need your help_!

A sharp intake of breath causes the whole room to turn their attention to Castiel, who is already preparing his wings for flight.

"I really must go," he offers as only explanation before taking off without awaiting any reactions from the others. He goes straight to the source of Dean's prayer, ending up in Dean's bedroom. Both Sam and Dean are standing on front of the bed, looking down at Charlie's body lying on it. She's unmoving, traces of the spell that killed her still visible. Without warning either hunters of his presence, Castiel moves forward, coming to stand next to Dean and reaching out two fingers to Charlie's forehead. Next to him, Dean lets out a sigh in relief.

Luckily, Charlie's soul hasn't yet left her body. He silently waves off the reaper that has come to collect her, and fixes the damage the spell has brought. In a very short time, Charlie suddenly jumps up in surprise.

"Merry Christmas!" she calls out, probably remembering the last thing she's seen before awakening again. Castiel lets Dean lean against him in relief, and Sam helps Charlie sit up again. The girl looks around in surprise. "Uh, hey I know you," she breathes out incoherently, eyes vaguely staring at Castiel.

"I told you to stay in the dungeon," Dean says. Charlie blinks a few times before she answers.

"Bet you say that to all the girls," comes out silently, and Dean shoots her an annoyed glance. Then he finally turns back to Castiel and pulls him in a strong hug.  
"Thank you," he whispers in his ear. Castiel can only tighten the hug, unwilling to part from this man's body again so soon. He wraps his wings around them, knowing very well that nobody in this room can see it.

"She's wounded," another woman suddenly says behind them, causing the pair to pull apart anyway. In front of them stands a woman Castiel hasn't seen before.

"I go away for one meeting and you two get yourselves in trouble once more," Castiel complains, almost afraid for having to return to Heaven after this is settled. They would most certainly not be happy with his sudden departure.

"Shut up," Dean hisses at him. "Dorothy, this is Cas." He points his hand in Castiel's direction. The woman only studies him for a moment, but then watches Charlie instead.

"We should still have some time," she says to everybody, and Castiel suspects they're talking about he witch that killed Charlie. "She could still be in the air vents."

"Actually, she is currently making her way to the main room," Castiel says, taking off again before they can respond. When he lands, he's standing right behind the witch. He can see she's a powerful one, but he has the element of surprise, so he grabs her by the arm, snatches the key out of her hand, and presses his hand against her forehead to burn her soul out. It's not a pleasant task, but if she's a threat to his friends, he won't allow her to continue her deeds.

When it's done, he moves back to Dean's bedroom, taking the body of the witch with him. A surprised shout comes from both ladies mouth. Dean only curses when the body is dropped on his bed. He hands the key back to Dean, who wraps his fingers around it tightly.

"Holy shit Cas, you have spared us a lot of work," he says, unable to take his eyes off the dead woman on his bed. "Also, did you have to put her on the bed? I sleep in there, you know!"

"Just sleep?" Charlie asks in a strange tone.

"Shut up," Dean responds. Castiel has no idea what she's been insinuating, but it's not really of import. He has to return to Heaven immediately before the other Angels get even more upset with him. He leans in to Dean's face again, stealing one quick kiss. Dean makes a sound of surprise when their lips meet. The others just look away.

"I must return, try to keep things quiet until I return, please," he says, and then he's gone again.

* * *

_Men of Letters Headquarters,  
Lebanon, Kansas  
That evening_

It's quiet at the table. The kitchen is still a mess, Crowley is still weeping, and the hunters are exhausted for no reason since in the end they haven't really done any hard work.

Also, now they have a computer currently still downloading the files of another computer, but they have nobody to help them translate any of those files, so what's really the point.

Sam offers Dean a sympathetic look when the older hunter stares at the kitchen in defeat. It really sucks, though, because he's spent almost a whole afternoon cleaning that room, only to have it trashed again by a witch with a tantrum.

It's also a bad evening because Castiel is still gone, and that bothers Dean. Sam seems to know that he has to avoid the subject, but not talking about it doesn't make it less true. So in order to forget about Cas's absence, Dean pulls out another bottle of beer, and starts the next episode of Game of Thrones. Sam joins him, though he's busier with Charlie's laptop so he misses half of what is happening.

By the time Castiel does return from Heaven, Dean has already fallen asleep. The Angel then reaches out for him and flies them to Dean's bedroom. The sheets have been changed, Castiel notices. He drops Dean down on the mattress, and after pressing a kiss on the Hunter's forehead, he sits down on a chair next to the bed, keeping watch on his beloved while he rests.


	4. Dean, stop licking my face!

_Men of Letters, headquarters  
Lebanon, Kansas  
Three days later_

"Wow."

It's literally the only thing he can say as he enters the main room of the bunker, leaving the hallway to the bedrooms behind him. It's around nine in the morning, but it feels like so many things have already happened.

"What?" Sam asks from where he's sitting. Just seconds ago he was sitting at the table, fingers pressed against his chin as he seems to be thinking, but now he's turning around, suddenly pulled out of his train of thoughts. Dean comes to stand behind the chair next to Sam and rests his hands against it.

"Kevin," Dean explains, nodding back to the hallway, "Just poured some buffalo milk down his gob twice." And what a sight that has been. Last night Kevin just appeared at the bunker's front door, drunk off his ass and barely able to stand. All that came out of his mouth were mangled words that kind of sounded like Enochian, but Dean couldn't be too sure of that. At least he's stopped muttering 'falafe' on a non-stop basis.

"Buffalo milk?" Sam asks. He turns to his brother and leans back in his chair. He looks concerned for Kevin's well-being, and Dean has to admit that he too shares that unsettling feeling.

"Yeah, the hangover cure-all," Dean clarifies, "it's got everything in it."

Sam shoots him an unbelieving expression.

"Except buffalo milk," he then adds, looking up at the ceiling as he tries to remember the ingredients for the drink. By now he could make it in his sleep, so he hasn't really been paying attention to how he made it earlier on.

Sam's hand reaches to scratch his hair as he frowns, taking a deep breath before deciding what to say. "How's that kid still recovering from Branson?" finally comes out. Dean only smirks because that answer is simple; Linda Tran already explained him the details of how he got in his current state.

"What can I say? He's an amateur," he jokes, because no matter what he's been through, Kevin is still just a teenager with zero alcohol tolerance. "The slippery nipple shots at the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede nearly killed the guy."

Now Sam smiles as well, returning his gaze to the papers in front of him on the table.

"All right," he says. "Well, uh, I got something that's gonna get us back on the road."

At that Dean finally sits down again, not really sure if he should be happy to hear that news or not. Sam puts his fingers atop of the keyboard of his laptop, getting ready to type something down.

"A case?" he asks.

"Yeah," is all Sam answers.

"You sure you're ready for that?" Dean asks. He presses his hands together, watching his brother worriedly. Sam seems to be taken aback by the question; his eyebrows raise and his mouth has fallen open.

"Why would I not be ready for that?" he asks. Dean can already feel the _talking_ part coming, but he just needs to be sure.

"You just close the Gates of Hell, Sammy. Right before that, Cas said you were damaged in ways he couldn't heal. I just need to be sure you're not going to drop in the middle of the hunt."

Whooh, that's a weight off his chest. Luckily, Sam seems to understand his hesitation on the situation.

"Dean, the minute Crowley was cured, it was like this bright light touched me and completely healed me," the younger hunter explains. "I feel completely clean, as if every bit of Demon's blood inside of me has been burned away. I've never felt better in my life."

Dean eyes his brother curiously, not really sure what to think of it. "So you think the Big Man waved his mojo on you and put you back to factory settings?"

Sam only rolls his eyes, but eventually nods as well. Then he motions the screen of the laptop. Dean turns his back to his brother and puts his foot on the table, toying with some strange cables in front of him.

"Okay, great that that's finally settled," he breathes out. 'Taxidermist named Max Alexander mysteriously crushed to death. Nearly every joint in his body dislocated, very bone broken. Poor guy is a human pretzel. You tell me what's got that kind of strength."

"A demonic luchador?" Dean asks mockingly, knowing quite well that there's no way a demon could have done this. Ah, how great is it to finally be able to say that there are no more demons to worry about! Sam rolls his eyes again. Is it Dean, or is his little brother losing patience? Oh, how great is it to be the annoying older sibling?

"Shop's a couple hours away in Enid, Oklahoma. We should at least check it out!" Sam presses on. Dean doesn't turn around, but instead reaches for his watch to check the hour. A quarter past nine; they still have the whole day.

But still, is it really a good idea to leave Crowley and Kevin alone in here? Sure, Mrs. Tran has arrived half an hour ago to check on her son, so she should at least be able to keep those two away from each other, but still, something is nagging inside of Dean.

"Unless there's some reason you think we shouldn't?" Sam challenges. Then Dean turns his eyes at Sam in irritation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks angrily, knowing already that he's talking about Cas.

"Come on, Dean, you're acting like the scared army wife who fears her husband won't find her if she isn't at home," Sam explains in metaphors. "Your boyfriend knows where to find you, he's proven that enough times already. Now let's go and save some people."

Dean stands up when Sam does, and they both go to the hallway to get their stuff from their rooms. Before Sam can walk through the door, Dean turns to him.

"Don't ever say 'boyfriend' again," Dean hisses. "It makes me feel like some ridiculous teenager."

Sam only chuckles.

"Whatever you say, Dean."

* * *

_A few hours later, Enid Oklahoma_

Okay, so the getting his throat slashed open hasn't really been what Sam looked forward to. The worst part is that he doesn't even see it coming. One moment there's a noise behind him, and when he turns, his gun is slapped out of his hand and he's bleeding all over his clothes. Damn the camouflage-abilities this madman has taken by eating what would probably be a chameleon.

"Aah!" he calls out in pain, feeling how the blood pulses out. This is bad, _really_ bad. He could bleed to death unless the cut is taken care off.

"Chameleon's aren't that bad," the man wearing a cook's uniform calls out. On his chest, the name 'Chef Leo' is written. "Kind of taste like chicken."

Sam turns around. His whole body is shaking from the pain, and he has trouble gasping for breath as the blood starts to come up his throat as well. With every last effort he has, he lets his mind scream out to Cas, hoping that the Angel could hear him.

_Cas, Avant-Garde Cuisine, Enid Oklahoma, help!_

The man is already lifting his hand to strike another blow, but suddenly all Sam can hear is a pained grunt and the sound of something smashing against a wall. Faintly, Sam looks up to find Castiel standing there in a very threatening stance. His eyes are glowing blue, and his arm is still in the air from having pushed the chef Leo.

"Cas," Sam calls out before he loses his balance and drops down on the floor. He already coughs out blood. When he feels his hand being pulled away, he panics. He wants to struggle back, but then, all of the sudden, the pain is gone. His vision clears again, and he can see how Castiel has crouched down next to him.

"Are you alright, Sam?" Castiel asks. He pulls Sam's arm to help him get up, and soon both men are standing again. Sam's still a little out of breath, but at least the pain is gone. "Where's Dean?"

"He's still wandering around, looking for this guy," Sam says, pointing at the unconscious chef Leo lying against the wall. Castiel inspects the man quickly with a frown.

"He has animalistic abilities," Castiel states, and yeah, Sam could have told him that. They both look up when Dean enters the room with his gun in front of him. For a moment the hunter stops in his track, probably trying to figure out why Cas is there, but when he notices the blood on Sam's clothes, he seems to make the connection.

Suddenly, Dean drops the gun, running up to Cas and throwing him on the floor. Dean crawls up on top of the Angel, already reaching for his face. Quickly, Sam turns his head around because this isn't really something he wants to watch.

"Dean, why are you licking my face?" Castiel asks in his low and neutral voice, which causes Sam to laugh out loud, despite the urgency of the situation. If Dean would have a tail, it would have been waggling wildly.

"Dean, _stop licking my face_!" then comes, to which Sam laughs even louder. He doubles over, resting his hands on his knees as he tries his best not to land on the ground as well. He finally turns to look at his brother and the Angel, and no matter what he thought before, but this sight is _golden_!

Dean is hovering on top of the Angel, ignoring the hands that try to push him away as he runs his tongue over every part of Castiel's face. The best part is, by the lack of having a tail, Dean instead is swinging around his butt.

This could be excellent blackmail material!

"Sam, why is Dean a dog?" Castiel asks after having given up the effort of stopping Dean. Sam decides to come and help him, and not-too-softly he pushes his older brother off the Angel, causing Dean to scramble up again so quickly and growl a little at Sam.

"What, are you going to bite me?" Sam asks with a smirk. Dean slumps his shoulders as he surrenders. He still comes to stand next to Cas to rub his head against the Angel's arm. Castiel sighs and starts to scratch Dean behind his ears. A happy sound comes out of Dean's mouth.

"It's a spell we used, we needed some information of a dog, but as you can see, there are some side-effects," Sam explains as he points at his brother. Then he turns to the man and inspects him.

"He's sick," Dean suddenly says without turning away from Cas. "Cancer, I can smell it on him."

"Seriously?" Sam asks, but Castiel confirms it.

"Aw, I had my dog friends ready to take down this fella," Dean suddenly whines. "They're going to be so disappointed!"

* * *

_Lebanon Kansas, that evening_

The bunker is kind of crowded at the moment. For the first time since his arrival, Crowley has shown himself at the dinner table, eating from the dinner Dean has prepared in the kitchen. Linda and Sam are both discussing some books Dean's never heard of, so he's quickly stopped listening to the two. Kevin is treated by Castiel's healing hands, and immediately the color in his cheeks return and he has stopped making dying noises with every movement he makes.

Dean looks proudly at this little family they have built for themselves – if they can be this relaxed every evening, he's willing to include the depressed Crowley. Heck, it's not like he's a real threat at the moment, so what trouble would it be to, kind of, befriend the ex-demon?

The moment everybody returns to their bedroom – luckily the men of letters were numerous, because there are only so many couches to crash on.

It has never really been discussed, since Castiel hasn't spent the night here so far, but after seeing a hesitation on the Angel's face, Dean grabs his hand and pulls him along with him, ignoring the knowing looks he receives from Sam and Kevin. Linda, of course, is oblivious and just enters her bedroom with a high-pitched goodbye to everybody.

"C'mon, Cas," Dean says, squeezing Castiel's hand as he pulls him along to his bedroom. The Angel just lets himself be pulled along, making no effort at all to pull away from Dean's grip. From the moment they're inside, Dean closes the door behind them. Castiel moves to the bed immediately, already sitting down when Dean starts to change into his sleeping attire. He can see the way the Angel's shoulders are slumping, seeming sad for some reason. He has his hands together, resting his chin upon them in some sort of thinking pose.

"Okay, spill, what's wrong?" Dean asks after he's taken his t-shirt off. He's stopped changing to watch Castiel curiously. The Angel only sighs quietly, but doesn't turn around.

"I'm not sure if I should return to Heaven for a while," Castiel says in a long breath. He keeps out his hands to look at them. He starts to bite his lower lip, which is again a very human reaction Dean has never really seen him do.

Dean pulls himself away from the drawer, not yet wearing his worn black shirt with a faded _Led Zeppelin_ logo on it. He has the clothing in his hands, but makes no move of putting it on, instead walking closer to the conflicted Angel currently sitting on his bed. When he finally reaches him, he kneels down in front of him, resting one hand on Castiel's knee in an attempt to win his attention. Slowly, Castiel looks up with saddened eyes, meeting Dean's gaze and holding on.

"What happened?" Dean asks, not really caring what exactly is happening upstairs, but if it brings down his Angel, then it's his business alright.

"They're going to hold elections for who would represent Heaven from now on," Castiel explains, and Dean listens. Castiel tells him how he proposed they would try it the human way, how then Angels could choose who to follow themselves. How Malachi and Bartholomew have been less than hospitable, how Azrael seems to be the most popular candidate, along with Ezekiel. And how Naomi has insisted Castiel would be in charge of the elections, in disagreement to the other Angels. Dean learns that the only Angel Castiel can really talk to is Inias, and that he sometimes goes to visit Metatron without really knowing why.

"I could have found a way to earn their trust again, Dean," Castiel then finishes, lowering his gaze again to look at their intertwined fingers. "But I can't do that and be with you at the same time, and we both know by now that I would always choose you."

Dean remains silent. What do you say to that? What would _anybody_ say if they told them they left their family to be with the other? But then again, Heaven hasn't been Castiel's family for a while, now, and the Angel seems to know that now. They have each other, Sam, Kevin, Linda, Charlie (where-ever in Oz she might be), and heck, even Crowley at the moment, though they don't have much with that ex-demon for now.

"The hardest thing is to let go, Cas," Dean says, knowing that from experience. He's let go so many things in his life that he could almost write a book about it. "And while you're grieving, you should know you have a _new_ family down here in this dusty little bunker that will get you through all of the doubts you might have."

Castiel smiles lightly, barely noticeable, and then Dean stands up again to wrap his arms around him. Without further changing their clothes, they both lie down on the bed. Dean still holds Castiel tightly, and the Angel lies with him, waiting for the human to fall asleep. Right before Dean dozes off, he glances down to look at the Angel.

"Join me?" he asks, and Castiel knows what he means. With a small nod, he helps pushing Dean over that edge of sleep, and after giving him a light kiss on the cheek he dives after him, joining the hunter in his dream.

And the next morning, nobody mentions the little toddler with dark hair and green eyes that joined them in the domestic fantasy from that night.

* * *

_A few days later, Lebanon Kansas  
Men of Letters headquarters. _

Though Castiel doesn't really sleep, he does like the waking-up part of the morning. Right after leaving another one of Dean's dreams, he spends another few minutes just watching the hunter in front of him with full adoration, knowing very well that Dean is currently in a warm, sunny place, getting ready to make a swim in a beautiful lake.

When Dean opens his eyes, his lips automatically form a smile. His hands make a slow movement to the Angel's face, and then he does nothing else but caress his cheek for a moment.

"Mornin'," Dean says with his typical morning voice. Castiel smiles back at the hunter and shuffles a little forward to meet Dean's lips halfway.

"Good morning, Dean," Castiel says. Then he snuggles closer to him again and rubs his face against Dean's cheek, causing Dean to chuckle.

"Damn, you really are a cat," Dean jokes. Castiel decides to play along, and starts to fake-purr. Dean laughs even louder now, holding the Angel even tighter and not willing to let him go.

"_Dean?"_ suddenly comes from a little further away. The pair stop moving, and Dean looks up to check the hour.

"Damn, it's almost noon," Dean says, making his way to get out of bed. Castiel does the same, though while Dean needs to get dressed for the day, Castiel just blinks at his clothes one time to automatically clean them.

"Show off," Dean mutters, slumping to his closet to get some clothing. Castiel receives one quick kiss before he turns to the door after hearing Sam call out for both him and Kevin as well.

The moment he reaches the main room he finds Sam sitting next to a book shelf, holding a pink book in his hands. Castiel can see that it's one of those 'Oz' books Dorothy's father has written.

"Good morning, Sam," Castiel greets. Right before Sam can answer him, a cellphone on the table next to Castiel starts buzzing. With a frown, the Angel turns to look at it. Sam does the same, looking a little annoyed at the device currently waiting for the call to be answered.

Neither of them makes a move to answer, mostly because Castiel recognizes that phone as Dean's phone. Dean wouldn't want him to mess with his stuff, right?

"Dude, it's your boyfriend's phone, you can answer it," Sam says, not even bothering to move from his spot. Castiel nods quickly. In an awkward turn, he now faces the table. With one reach of his hand he holds the phone between his fingers.

"I don't understand, how do I pick up?" Castiel asks with a frown.

"It's a touch screen, Cas," Sam says with a smirk on his face. "Just put your finger over the green icon and slide it to the right."

"That doesn't even make sense," Castiel complains, but he does what Sam tells him to. After a soft sound, the buzzing stops, but the screen starts counting. Slowly, Castiel lifts the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" he asks, ignoring the snort coming from Sam's way. Castiel tries to walk away, only to have the phone almost snatched from his hands since it's still attached to the charger. Silently cursing, Castiel unplugs it to turn his back to Sam.

"_Heya Dee-dawg," _an unfamiliar voice says on the other line. Castiel really is confused now. Who is this person? Why does he have Dean's phone?

"Apologies, but I'm not familiar with any Dee-dawg-?" Castiel starts, but then the phone is pulled out of his hands by Dean.

"I got it, babe," Dean tells him, now dressed up in is typical layers. Then he holds the device to his ear and continues the conversation. "Sonny hey."

Castiel turns to look at Sam again, who has now dropped the book in an attempt to follow the conversation.

"So what's up?"

It's frustrating not to be a part of the conversation, but Castiel knows how keen Dean is about his privacy, so listening in to the other side of the line would be really inappropriate of him. Sam comes to stand next to him, crossing his arms.

"Okay," Dean says, and then there's a pause. "Al right, yeah, just sit tight. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Then it's quiet again.

"Shut up," he suddenly says, cheeks coloring red as he glances one look at Cas. After that he hangs up, and Sam starts leaning against the table, smirking.

"So, what was that all about, 'Dee-dawg'?" Sam asks, clearly amused by this new discovery. Castiel just keeps his eyes on the phone, viewing it with interest. Dean gives him a soft poke in the ribs – which Castiel really doesn't appreciate, and then he starts explaining.

"Remember when we were kids that spring in upstate New York? Dad was on a rugaru hunt," Dean tells Sam. Castiel understands that this is something he wouldn't know about, so he keeps in the background. "We uh, we crashed at the, uh…" Dean seems to think for a moment before he continues, "…the bungalow colony with the ping-pong table?"

"Yeah, you disappeared," Sam says as he recalls as well. "Dad came back, you were gone. He shipped me off to Bobby's for a couple months and went and… found you. You were lost on a hunt or something?"

At that, Dean frowns, for a moment before lifting his head with his mouth open.

"Ah, so _that's_ what we told you," Dean says, seeming to remember the excuse they offered him when he was just a kid. "Right…" Dean walks away, leaving Sam and Castiel sitting at the table alone. Sam looks a little surprised for a moment, but only starts speaking after shooting Cas a questioning glance.

"I'm sorry, that's what you _told_ me?" Sam asks with clear frustration written all over his voice. Castiel doesn't really like it when the brothers are angry at each other so he hopes it doesn't escalate to that. He remains quiet, though, because he doesn't really have anything to add to this.

"Truth is, uh…" Dean says as he turns back to Sam. His right hand reaches for his front pocket to fumble nervously with the fabric. "I lost the food money that dad left for us in a card game."

Sam doesn't respond, so Dean continues.

"I knew you'd get hungry, so I tried taking the five-finger discount at the local market and got busted," he clarifies. When he keeps on moving nervously, Castiel comes to stand next to him to calm him down, putting a hand on Dean's arm. "I wasn't on a hunt; they sent me to a boy's home."

Sam lets out a huff of breath, clearly surprised at what he's hearing.

"A boy's home? Like a… reform school?"

"Yeah, more or less," Dean says, tilting his head a little to the right. "It was a farm and the guy who ran it – Sonny – he, uh… you know, he looked after me."

"Wait, does this Sonny know what you do?" Castiel asks before Sam can even open his mouth, but by the looks of it, the hunter had the exact same question ready.

"Yeah," Dean says, as if that's the most normal case. At Castiel's confused look, he continues. "He's good people. I gave him the number to the Bat phone, and sounds like he's got something in our wheelhouse."

Castiel then plucks the phone out of Dean's hand, eyeing it thoroughly.

"What is so different about this phone that it is considered a '_Bat' _phone?" Castiel asks. "It has nothing on it that could indicate the animal?"

Both Dean and Sam roll their eyes, but Castiel does receive a playful shove against his shoulder, and the phone is once again taken out of his hands, this time put back on the table, plugged right back into the recharger.

"It's from Batman," Dean says as he passes his hand through Castiel's hair, messing it all around so it looks like he's just gotten out of bed. Castiel doesn't really like it, but if it amuses Dean, he won't say anything about it. "Remind me that we need to make you watch those movies."

Oh, more movies to watch. It isn't like his list isn't already endlessly long. Sam is already turning around, on his way to pull the pink book back out of the shelf, obviously intending to read it further as they drive to their destination for the hunt.

"So, are you ready to go out on a hunt?" Dean asks with a broad smile, leaning a little closer to Castiel so their chests almost touch. The Angel returns the smile, and his hand reaches up to Dean's face, caressing his cheek with his thumb.

"Oh, c'mon guys, don't act all lovey-dovey around me, it's getting really depressing," Sam complains, keeping his eyes away from them. Without waiting their reaction, Sam already makes his way to the hallway to leave the room. Before he gets to the door, though, he turns around again.

"Hey Dean…" he starts, sounding a little unsure. "Why didn't you just tell me you went to a boy's home?" He has his arms spread in an attempt to make it perfectly clear how that would just have been a more logical explanation. Dean pulls back away from Cas again, to the Angel's disappointment.

"I don't know, it was dad's idea," Dean answers, frowning again as he digs back into his memories. "And then it just, you know, the story became the story. I was sixteen, Sam, just give me a break."

With his hands in the air, Sam shows surrender, moving back away again to leave the room.

* * *

"Dee-dawg!"

Dean is pulled out of a faraway memory when the familiar voice of Sonny speaks out his name. The man looks different from when he last saw him; his hair is pulled back in a ponytail and he's wearing glasses now. His moustache, though, that is one that will never change.

"Sonny! Good to see you!" Dean says before receiving a strong hug from the older man. Behind him, both Sam and Castiel stay in the back, clearly not really knowing what to say.

"Hey, you, too, brother!" Sonny answers, slapping Dean one time on the back before turning his eyes towards the other two men. "Now which one of you is Sam?"

Sam walks forward, holding out his hand for Sonny to shake, which he does.

"Good to meet you," he says with a smile on his face. Sonny seems to be impressed by Sam's height, but, hey, who wouldn't?

"Back at you, brother," he says, then turning towards Castiel who just stands there uncomfortably. "So you must be _babe_?"

Castiel gives him a confused look, turning towards Dean who is currently slapping his forehead. Typical of Sonny to bring that back up.

"No, my name is Castiel?" the Angel says hesitantly, accepting the handshake he receives. Sonny just laughs out loud before pulling back again.

"Man, that one's a keeper, Dean," he says. Thankfully, the man doesn't seem to judge them in any way, but Dean wouldn't really have expected it from him.

"So, farm looks, eh, nice," Dean says in an attempt to change the conversation.

"Oh, please man," Sonny returns, smirking despite the sudden sad look in his eyes. "It's barely standing. Only got a handful of kids working around here now."

"Why's that?" Dean asks, not really noticing how Castiel and Sam both seem distracted by the maid looking at them as they speak.

"Because these days the system would rather incarcerate a boy than redeem him," Sonny explains. Then, suddenly, Sam speaks.

"Hey, Sonny, uh, you mind if we talk alone?" he asks, nodding towards the maid currently cleaning the table. Sonny agrees, sending the woman – Ruth – away. After that, they get to business. Sonny explains what exactly happened with Jack, the tractor. Sonny doesn't really seem sure what to believe, but when he mentions the flickering lights, the scratching noises… it's clear that there is indeed something going on here.

"All right, you think you can round up the boys while we take a look around?" Dean asks.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem; most are home on break – well, except those with no home worth going to," Sonny says. Dean then thinks of all those young kids, homeless and probably orphan, getting on the wrong track. One time long ago he had been one of them. When Sonny walks away, Dean turns to Sam.

"Well, why don't you take the house? I'll check the barn." Castiel looks up, surprised that Dean is going out alone. Sam nods shortly, letting out a small _yeah_ when Dean is already on his way to get outside.

"You know it's easier if I just check the whole place," Castiel complains. Dean only grunts.

"No, you need to learn how to be a hunter," Dean counters. "We'll do it this way." Then he's out the door.

* * *

Seeing Robin again has been something on Dean's mind from the moment he got here. She still looks the way he remembers her, only a lot more grown up. Her hair seems a little lighter, and she has a few freckles on her face.

Dean doesn't mean anything romantic with it; his feelings for Robin have since long passed. But still, after all those years, he finds he really wants to know what has become of her. Dean wants to know the things that happened to her since after he left.

"Hi, welcome to Cus's. What can I get you three?" Robin asks when she reaches their table. That sentence is spoken in such a fake enthusiasm, like she's said it a little bit too much by now.

"Bet you never thought you'd see me here, huh?" Dean asks with a giant smile on his face. Castiel tenses a little bit next to him, but Dean barely notices. All he can see is Robin's blank expression, without any recognition. Sam eyes the two warily.

"Uh, look, I'm a little bit slammed right now. Do you guys want to hear the specials?" Robin says quickly, sounding slightly frustrated. Ah, well, Dean's frustrated too. How could she not recognize him?

"Robin… Dean Winchester?" Dean says as he gestures himself. Robin's eyebrows rise and her eyes widen a little bit, but other than a short _uhm_ nothing really comes out of her. She still doesn't seem to make the connection. "I used to live up at Sonny's."

Castiel looks down, but Sam stares at his brother, shooting him a strange expression;

"Oh, oh," Robin says, nodding slightly. "Uh, look, sorry. There's just – there's so many boys that pass through there, it's – it's hard to remember every – every name and face." She trips over her words a few times as she tries to explain herself, but somehow, Dean doesn't really buy it. Still, he decides not to push it. He'd rather not cause a scene in front of Castiel.

"Yeah, uh, no. Sorry," Dean mutters, looking away from her and to the menu instead. "I just, I remember you coming up there with your mom. She'd give guitar lessons. It's, uh – it was a long time ago."

"Yeah, mom… she loved helping out the boys," Robin says, looking at Sam for a moment. "I guess that's why I kept giving lessons after she passed."

Nobody really responds to that. Robin clears her throat, Sam and Dean look at their menus, and Castiel just stares at Robin with a big frown on his face. Dean reaches out to touch his leg underneath the table in a gesture to calm down. In a silent plea he begs Castiel not to say anything.

When suddenly somebody calls out Robin's name, she excuses herself and walks away towards the source of the voice. After she's gone, it's like everybody breathes out at the same time. Dean still has his head down, but now Sam is looking at him again with a smirk. Oh, he's enjoying him.

"Dude," he says. Bitter, Dean throws the menu back on the table and pushes his chair back.

"Let's go," Dean says as he stands up. He picks up his jacket and is almost halfway through the room before Sam and Castiel are up as well. Quickly, they follow him. It's only when they're outside that Sam starts talking again.

"What was that?" Sam asks, obviously enjoying himself way too much here.

"Nothing," Dean bites out. When his phone starts ringing he looks down.

"Nothing?" Castiel suddenly says, sounding bitter and hurt. Dean turns to him the moment he hears his voice. "Obviously it was _something_."

"I said it was nothing, all right? Just believe me and drop it."

Then he picks up his phone, only to hear Sonny on the other line, telling him that Ruth just died.

* * *

It's when Robin suddenly sits in the living room of Sonny's place that Castiel seems to have enough of doing this hunt the old-fashioned way. He wants to get out of there as fast as he can; wants to keep Dean away from her. He doesn't understand why, though. He's never felt so possessive over somebody ever before, and it kind of creeps him out.

So when suddenly the kid Timmy shows up, Castiel understands it completely. He can see his mother's spirit hovering around him. Her soul seems so conflicted, so pained and troubled, and obviously her judgment is clouded.

And then Timmy tells them he can't control her, and that's when Castiel jumps into action. He flies towards her, grabs her by her arm and stops her from starting anything that could harm the others.

"Don't do this," he urges her on, very much aware that the others can't see her and that he might as well just be talking to himself. Dean and Sam don't seem so confused, but that Robin-lady sure as hell does, and that satisfies Cas a little bit. When the ghost stares Sam down, Castiel turns to the two hunters. "Timmy needs to tell her to let him go if she wants to leave here peacefully," he explains.

Timmy, who has been listening, shakes his head. "But she's my mom," the boy says with tears in his eyes. By then, the ghost has found a grip on Sam with her abilities, and she throws him against a wall. Robin shrieks in surprise and fear. Amateur, Castiel thinks. A little further away, Sam gasps in pain.

"Listen to me," Dean says. He kneels in front of the kid and puts one hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes you got to do what's best for you, even if it's gonna hurt the ones you love."

So the kid tries. "Mommy… stop it." It's barely a whisper, the words don't even reach his mother's ears.

"Hurry up, Dean," Castiel grits out. He's still trying his best to hold the ghost back, but she's really strong.

"Timmy, Kung Fu grip!" Dean suddenly shouts. Then, a new expression comes on the kid's face, and he finally raises his voice.

"Mommy, stop it! Stop hurting people!"

And then, whatever force that has been pushing Sam down seems to let go. The hunter gasps for breath loudly, making a loud sound of relief. Castiel loses his grip on the ghost because there's no more reason to hold her back. She's aware of her surroundings; at least that is clear when she looks down on her child with her arms holding out to him.

"You have to go. Never come back. I'll be okay, I promise," the kid says, and then the scorched image of his mother's ghost peels off its burned skin, and she finally looks healthy again. The woman looks at him with tears in her eyes. "I love you, too."

Then Castiel puts his hand on her shoulder as she agrees that it's time to leave. So, Castiel brings her to where she belongs, even though returning to Heaven has been the last thing he's wanted.

* * *

_Lebanon, Kansas  
Men of Letters headquarters, that night_

Castiel doesn't come home until long after midnight. Dean isn't happy with that.

When he appears in Dean's bedroom, he just stands there until Dean looks over.

"_Holy crap_, stop doing that!" Dean curses as he startles from the sudden presence in the room. He rubs his eyes and sits up a little bit. "What was your problem today?"

Castiel doesn't speak, but walks towards the bed, this time removing his shoes before coming to lie down next to Dean. He crawls in Dean's arms, trying to get close. His face rests in the hunter's neck. Dean just wraps his arms around him, pressing a soft kiss at the back of Castiel's head.

"I'm so sorry, Dean," Castiel mutters.

"Sorry about what?" Dean asks, understanding that the Angel is not just talking about his behavior today.

"I'm sorry that this vessel is a male one," Castiel confesses. "I know how much you like women, and here you are, stuck with me…"

Dean frowns. What is Castiel talking about? Is this about Robin? He's been acting all jealous since they saw her in that restaurant. But Dean doesn't understand why; he has made no indication that he misses being with her in any way, right?

"Cas, don't talk like that," Dean whispers in his ear while stroking his hair. "You are amazing and I wouldn't trade you for anything in this whole world. I like you just the way you are."

Castiel just nods. Dean can see how conflicted the Angel looks, though. It's completely normal; since forever, he's been living with no emotion at all. Ever since he's met Dean, he's been faced with tons of emotions suddenly, and it's only understandable that he'd be a little freaked out.

"If it's about Robin, I was just interested in how her life has been so far. I'm not the awkward kind of ex who refuses to be friends, babe," Dean adds before pressing another kiss on Castiel's hair. The Angel nods lightly, but otherwise doesn't move.

"I love you, Dean," suddenly comes out, leaving Dean breathless for a moment. The moment the words reach his brain, he stops breathing, stops blinking, stops everything. Castiel has just told him the L-word; a word that hasn't really been said to him since Lisa, and even back then he's had trouble accepting it.

His head is going crazy, trying to get Dean to get himself out of this, to run away. But he knows well enough that running away won't help anyone. So, Dean just takes a deep breath to calm himself down. Then he takes Castiel's hand in his.

"And I need you," is all Dean can manage to say. It's not exactly the same thing, but for Dean, it still means a lot. Castiel pulls away from Dean's shoulder to look at him. Nobody speaks anymore. Then, they both lean forward to meet each other in a kiss.

"Then prove it," Castiel whispers against his lips, and, oh, Dean is down with that. Without giving any kind of spoken response, Dean pulls at Castiel's trench coat, peeling it off of the Angel's shoulder. A gasp escapes from his lips, when the coat is thrown on the floor. Dean takes his time taking off the black jacket of the tuxedo. Castiel doesn't stop him. Their lips barely leave each other as Dean rips open Castiel's shirt. He doesn't have the patience to open it button by button. He can borrow the Angel one of his t-shirts tomorrow; it's about time he changes his wardrobe…

Dean feels how his body warms up by every layer of clothing that is removed from the Angel. With all the gentleness he has, his fingers travel all over Castiel's skin. He wants to touch him everywhere, wants to show the Angel that he loves _every_ part of him, no matter what he believes.

Castiel has trouble keeping still as Dean touches him. He lies down on his back, hands pinned down behind his head by Dean's left hand as his right one travels all over Castiel's body. His lips follow everywhere, light kisses forming in every place Dean can find. He doesn't know if he's imagining it, but somehow it seems like Castiel's skin is glowing. He can't really describe what he's seeing; it's like Cas is becoming his own light source, and it's amazing.

"Dean," Castiel whispers, and when Dean looks up at him again, he can see how Castiel appears defeated. His lips seem to beg for another kiss, so Dean complies. His right hand goes lower then, intending to bring them both the pleasure they so obviously need.

"How come you light up like that?" Dean asks, and he sounds out of breath. Castiel throws his head back as he tries to find the words to answer.

"My Grace, is responding to what we're doing," Castiel explains. "I like this very much."

"I like this too," Dean whispers in his ear. After that, Castiel is quiet the whole remaining time, only gasping one or two times when Dean speeds up the movement of his hand. They press their foreheads together as they both get closer to that highest peak, lips slowly moving together.

"Dean," Castiel mutters again, right before stumbling over the edge and letting out a long breath. He has his eyes closed from that overwhelming feeling all over his body, and just seeing him like that makes Dean join him, reaching the top and releasing all he has. A giant wave of pleasure passes all over him.

Castiel still glows blue when Dean comes to lie down next to him, and when he smiles, that bright light only seems to get stronger. Dean doesn't see how he could ever let this amazing creature go. He hopes he never has to.

Castiel cleans them both with a simple hand wave, and the remaining night they spend more time together in Dean's dream. In his sleep, Dean's fingers find Castiel's, and they don't let go of each other until morning.


	5. I always imagined your wings black

_Lebanon, Kansas  
Men of Letters, Headquarters_

Waking up next to Cas has always been his favorite part of the day. It gives him a feeling Dean hasn't really felt a lot in his life before aside from when he was with Lisa – and that's a time he no longer wants to remember at all.

Castiel does nothing else but looking at him – it's what he does every night; watching over Dean, joining him in his dreams. And not to lie, those shared dreams are amazing. They vary, of course, going from an average afternoon away from the hunt to them living in a completely different universe where they don't have monsters and apocalypses to fear. This night, the dream involved secret agents, but that's probably because they all watched one of those James Bond-movies before going to bed.

When their eyes connect with each other for what feels like a full minute, Dean lifts up his hand to touch Castiel's cheek softly.

"G'morning, babe," Dean whispers, not really knowing when he got so sappy. Castiel smiles back at him and leans into the touch. Dean remembers how that skin had been glowing last night; something Cas always does whenever they have sex. It's kind of awesome, but so far, Dean has never really mentioned it before.

"Good morning, Dean," Castiel says back in a normal volume. His voice sounds loud in the silent room; kind of like he's been screaming instead of talking. But Dean doesn't mind, though. Instead, he shuffles a little closer to Cas and presses their noses together.

"How come you glow?" Dean finally asks as his curiosity gets the better of him. He now notices how his heartrate is suddenly speeding up. He distracts himself by kissing Castiel right next to his mouth.

"That's me," Castiel explains. "My Grace gets overwhelmed by the amount of pleasure and it reaches out to you." The Angel leaves a small kiss on Dean's cheek before continuing. "I didn't know it could happen, but I feel it gets stronger every time, and I really like it."

Dean nods with a smirk. "I really like it too," he says. "It's like it multiplies everything I'm feeling or something."

"I believe that feeling will be greater when I finally connect with your soul."

"Can't wait for when that happens," Dean finishes with a grin. Then he pushes himself up to get ready for the day. Though he loves staying in bed with the Angel, his stomach keeps on protesting on its emptiness. And to add to that, he really needs to relieve his bladder. He leaves a small kiss on Castiel's lips and gets out of the bed.

"I'll see you in the kitchen," Dean says without waiting for an answer. He gets to the hallway, towards the bathroom.

When he joins Castiel in the kitchen a few minutes later, he finds a sleeping Sam on the table, head resting against an empty cup of coffee and on his other side there's a practically full bowl of cornflakes. The guy must've fallen asleep while eating. Dean throws one look at the Angel who is sitting awkwardly next to him, only to receive a shrug in return.

"I didn't want to wake him," Castiel whispers very loud that it has no quiet effect at all. Dean rolls his eyes at him, instead filling his cup with the coffee Sam must have made. Then he takes a bowl from the shelf as well, turning to the table again while eyeing his brother. Just to be annoying, he throws it on the table, causing Sam to startle awake.

The younger hunter sits up with his hands thrown in the air. His eyes find Dean immediately, and Dean smirks up at him as he finally sits down next to the both of them.

"Hey," Dean says.

"Hey," Sam answers. He presses his hands against his face. His hair lies weirdly on his head, but it's only normal, seeing as it is so freakishly long.

"You okay?" Dean asks, feigning innocence.

"Yeah, eh," Sam says. "Yeah, just, uh, resting my head for a second."

"Did you not sleep well, Sam?" Castiel asks. Dean listens with interest while he serves himself some of the cereals Sam put on the table.

"You're kidding, right?" Sam asks. He yawns loudly and stretches his arms. "I don't think _anybody_ slept well with you two practically holding a marathon in that bedroom of yours." That last part is directed at Dean with a bitchface thrown to it. Dean ignores it, and instead adds milk into his bowl.

"What can I say, Sammy?" he asks, poking in his cereals. Castiel doesn't add anything to it, so Dean continues. "I just love the little sounds Castiel makes when he's really into it."

"Ah, shut up!" Sam says while he throws his hands against his ears. To be honest, Castiel doesn't make any noise at all during sex; that's probably what makes it so hot to begin with. This night it has all been Dean, unable to hold back as Castiel worshipped his body with his lips.

"And afterwards we just talk a little, and then we go at it again, and again…" Dean continues, enjoying the fact that Sam is very much _not_ enjoying this conversation. Is it him, or is Castiel blushing? Do Angels even blush? "Angel stamina is the best, and adding his awesome mojo to both our refractory periods, we could have gone all night!"

"Dean, I don't really think Sam needs to know all this," Castiel adds hesitantly, giving the Hunter a hopeless look. Dean smiles at him and winks.

"Don't worry, babe, just teasing him," Dean says. Underneath the table, he squeezes the Angel's hand quickly before starting to eat. "It's what big brother's do, making the younger sibling feel uncomfortable."

Then, the door opens. Dean doesn't turn around, so he's not really sure who's entering the room. He lifts his spoon to his lips, but before he can finally take his first taste of breakfast, he's slapped on his arm and the spoon falls on the table.

"You are a horrible man," Linda Tran says angrily. She comes to sit between Cas and Sam with her own cup of coffee. Kevin follows, looking just as tired as Linda and Sam. He barely sits down before pressing his head against the table again.

"Aw come on, we weren't _that_ loud," Dean protests, because he can tease his brother, but this is some next level of accusation.

"Dude, you were singing _Sex Bomb_ – quite badly, might I add. If I weren't afraid for any trauma I might catch, I would have entered that room and stuff a pair of socks in your mouth to shut you up," Kevin groans as he rubs his eyes and yawns again.

Okay, so maybe he's had a little bit too much to drink last night, and Sam isn't exaggerating. This is starting to get really awkward.

It gets even worse when Crowley walks in and pours himself a cup of coffee as well, throwing Dean a dirty look.

"Oh Hell, I feel like I've been thrown into a cheap soap opera or something," Dean mutters. Under the table, Cas puts a hand on Dean's leg to comfort him, which Dean is thankful for. Before anybody can complain to him again, though, the cellphone in his pocket starts ringing. Nobody really looks up since they're all very tired, but Dean reaches for the device immediately, seeing _unknown _written on the screen before he picks it up. Sam catches the look he throws him.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Dean. Jody Mills," _the woman says, and Dean feels a light smile creep up on his face.

"Sheriff Mills," Dean says, to which both Sam and Crowley look up. He pulls the phone away from his ear to reach for the speaker function. "Hang on, the others are here, too."

"Hey Jody," Sam says when Dean drops the device on the table. He shoots Crowley a warning glare, and the Demon breathes out in annoyance, taking a sip from his coffee and turning his head away.

"_Hey Sam. Uh… I got a bit of an oddball to pitch your direction,_" comes from the phone.

"Shoot," Dean says.

"_A small town I cover outside of Sioux Falls – Only crime to speak of being the occasional cow tipping. Then last week… four people go missing."_

Literally at the same time, everybody – except for maybe Crowley, who just sulks there by himself – sits up, waiting for the details.

"All right, so, what makes you think this is our kind of weird?" Dean says as he picks his cup back up.

"_I've got a witness who says he saw someone lift an S.U.V. to nab a girl last night."_

One look at Sam, one at Cas, and then the three of them get up.

* * *

_Hartford, South Dakota  
A few hours later_

Sheriff Mills is already waiting them when Dean parks the car. She's been leaning against her truck, but upon seeing them arrive, she pushed herself off the car to meet them halfway. Dean enjoys her admiring face when she looks at his beloved Impala. His baby _is _quite impressive, and he knows it!

She does seem a little surprised when the door to the backseat opens as well. Castiel walks out of the car, having left his trench coat in the car at Dean's suggestion. He looks kind of naked without it, but Dean won't complain at how good the Angel looks in just a suit.

"Sheriff," Dean greets the woman, accepting the greeting hug she gives him. "Laying off the blind dates, I hope?"

"Yeah, you bite your tongue, boy," she says, making Dean smile. He throws Cas a look while Jody greets Sam, winking when Castiel looks a little uncomfortable.

"Now, now, is there a new member in the gang?" she asks when she notices Castiel at last. The Angel holds out her hand for her to shake, which she does. She seems to inspect Castiel thoroughly, wary of strangers.

"Yeah, this is Cas," Dean offers as explanation, not really wanting to explain the whole Angel business just yet. He finds Castiel's troubled expression over meeting someone new quite hilarious, but Sam seems to decide that he shouldn't suffer for long.

"So?" he asks. Jody lets Castiel's hand go. She lifts the reports up and points them to an empty parking lot where a man in a grey overall seems to be sweeping glass away.

"So. Car was right over there, ass over teakettle," she starts, offering the copies of the reports to Dean, Sam, and Castiel. Dean puts the folder down on his car as he reads. "Now, normally, if somebody would tell me that one guy lifted an S.U.V., I'd tell him to take a flying leap, but after what I've seen…"

"Nothing's impossible," Sam finishes, to which Jody hums in agreement.

"And this matches up with the other missing how?" Dean asks before really reading the other reports. Next to him, Castiel is already deep in it, just finishing the last page of the last case.

"There have been four abductions, and if I read it correctly, there has been strong evidence at every scene," Castiel says. Jody throws him a surprised look, which Dean can understand for one not knowing that it's actually a supernatural creature standing there. One that can read one book by the time Dean has finished one sentence.

"Uh, yeah, literally," Jody adds, shaking herself out of her daze.

"So, first vic was a pastor?" Sam asks, oblivious of what just happened there.

"Yeah," Jody says. "Door of his study was punched in. And then, the next two – an engaged couple."

"Locked bedroom window was ripped open," Dean finishes for her. He throws Sam a knowing look, which Sam returns. Castiel continues to study the reports a little more deeply.

"Uh-huh," Jody agrees. "And then we have our waitress here with the topsy-turvy ride."

"Any connection among them?" Sam asks

"Yeah," Jody says slowly. She crosses her arms but refuses to look at any of them, instead throwing her eyes upwards. "They were all members of Good Faith church here. My, uh, my church group back in Sioux Falls was in a tizzy over it."

Dean feels the surprised expression growing over his face, and he doesn't notice the '_huh'_ that comes out of him. Jody turns to him, arms still crossed.

"What?" she asks defensively. Dean quickly shakes his head dismissively.

"Didn't peg you for churchy," he says. A small smile forms on her face, so Dean knows – to his relief – that he hasn't offended her.

"Yeah, you know," she says. "Choking on the ladies' room floor 'cause of witchcraft kind of makes a higher power seem relevant."

"Choking?" Castiel asks suddenly, sounding terribly concerned for Jodie's wellbeing. It's endearing.

"Crowley, I'll explain later," Dean mutters to him. His hand travels to his arm to calm him down, which Castiel does. "Jody, are you sure you're, uh, ready to jump back in the fray?" Jody's face looks a little sad when the question is formed; as if she's trying to appear strong, while on the inside she's at the verge of crying. Dean can understand that, since she's had to see her son die twice, losing her husband in the process as well.

"This wackadoo stuff keeps coming," she explains. Her eyes travel to nowhere, making her look ahead of her without really focusing on something. "More I know, better armed I'll be."

They then share a few seconds of eye-contact, but neither of them continue on the conversation. Castiel makes a slight movement next to Dean, causing the hunter to turn to him. He offers Castiel a small smile, silently wishing that they were back in that bed again, without having to worry about anything else.

"Okay, so we have, uh," Sam starts, "missing church folk and super strength." Then he looks up at Castiel. "Angels punishing them?"

"Wha- uh, Angels?" Jody interrupts. Her face looks shocked, which is understandable. "You're joking."

"Huh, nah," Dean says, resting a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Cas is okay, but the rest of them pretty much suck." He ignores the annoyed look Castiel throws him and smiles up at Jody. Before she can comment on it, Sam continues talking. Jody doesn't remove her eyes from Castiel, as if she can't really believe that he's there.

"You said there was a witness?"

"Yeah, well… more or less."

* * *

Talking to the witness has made it clear that there are no connections with Angels, but Dean is sure Castiel could have told them that as well. He's happy that they're able to do the hunt the old-fashioned way. Things could be so much easier, but that's not the way Dean likes to do this.

Anyway, they state that there's not much else to do than visit the church themselves. It's not a hard one to find. Good Faith Church is a large, extremely white building that could blind someone when it's extremely sunny. Upon arriving, Castiel has admired it at once, touching practically every stone, blessing the water at the front of the church, and inspecting every painting that is hanging there, pointing it it's accuracy. Dean can only roll his eyes at him, but he has to admit that it's kind of cute seeing the Angel like this.

And after that, he mentally slaps himself for thinking his Angel is cute.

A lady comes to greet them after a while. She has red hair and a small black hairband. She looks friendly enough, but Dean has trouble speaking out her name; Bonny Futchko. Afraid of pronouncing it wrong, he lets Sam do most of the talking. Castiel wisely remains quiet, remembering the last time he went to interview somebody. That was a good hunt, Dean remembers, thinking back of how hard Castiel had been trying. He's improved a lot by now, though.

They finish the tour after half an hour, and then they find themselves seated in front of the woman's desk. Ms. Futchko walks away from the bookcase she's been standing next to, coming to join the other three behind her desk. She has this wide smile on her face that makes Dean a little uncomfortable.

"We hope you enjoyed the tour," she says before sitting down. "Any questions before we get you boys registered?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam says, throwing a quick look at Dean. "Uh, look, um, Ms. Futchko-," Sam starts. Dean doesn't really know why he seems so uncomfortable. He quickly turns to Cas, who seems to be in the exact same position, only his expression seems to be ten times worse. No, Castiel seems troubled about something.

"Oh, please," Ms. Futchko interrupts Sam. "Bonnie will do just fine."

She looks so earnest, so honest. Her face loses the wide smile a little, only to have her lips curled upwards slightly in a more believable expression. She's friendly enough.

"Bonnie, okay," Sam says, hesitancy still thick on his voice. "Uh, we… love the church, we do. But… well, we've heard that a few members have gone missing, and, to be honest… that kind of scares us."

Oh, so Sam was going for the scared type? Dean could roll with that. Out of Bonnie's eyesight, he takes Castiel's hand in his to calm him down, but it doesn't seem to work. The Angel keeps on turning his head around, seeming suddenly less interested in this church in comparison to earlier.

"Let me assure you, with our increased security, Good Faith has never been safer," Bonnie says as she presses a hand on her heart. "And those people who have gone missing, well, they are front and center in our prayers."

Okay, Dean has to refrain himself from rolling his eyes. What good is praying to a God that doesn't listen? At least with Cas, he knows he's heard. Dean squeezes Castiel's fingers slightly and is relieved when the Angel finally squeezes back.

"What a relief," Dean says, hating how his voice sounds unconvincing. When her eyes find his, he quickly lets go of Castiel's hand and rests them on his legs instead. "Now, you must have been, uh, close to them?"

"Well, we do share the A.P.U. bond," Bonnie says. That sounds like it might be important?

"A.P.U.?" Dean asks. Bonnie nods quickly.

"Our chastity group," she explains. "Abstinence Purifies Us."

Dean literally bites his lip to keep the laugh inside. He throws one look at Sam, telling him that he should continue.

"Oh, wow," Sam says. Damn, he's such a terrible actor… "You mind if we sit in on that, maybe see if it's for us?" Dean hates those words, but knows that it's the only way for them to get in closer. Castiel still remains quiet, which worries Dean a little.

"I'm afraid it's members only," Bonnie declines friendly. She doesn't seem upset by the question. That's good. "I'm sorry, but it can get pret-ty personal." She looks down with a big smile on her face. It remains quiet for a few miliseconds, but when Sam breaks the silence, Dean could almost kill him.

"Then count us in," he says. Slowly, Dean turns his head to his brother, throwing him a '_hell, no'_ expression, but the younger hunter only lifts his eyebrows quickly, silently telling him that he had no other choice. Bonnie studies them suspiciously, but only when Dean makes an agreeing movement she actually lets out a relieved chuckle.

"Well, I'll be a squirrel in a skirt."

_What_ the Hell does that even mean?

"I'll be back in a jiff with the papers." With that she gets up excitedly. Dean watches her go, and only when she's out of the office, he turns towards Sam.

"A chastity group?" he says, spitting the words out like they're venom.

"Dean, listen, if all the members were in A.P.U., then maybe whatever took them is stalking virgins," Sam throws back. It does actually make sense.

"And that Slim guy said he thought he saw fire. So, what are you thinking, dragons?" Sam only makes a '_what else do you think'_ face, but goes to sit back up when he watches where Bonnie left. Dean turns to find her walking back to them. Castiel shuffles his chair a little closer to the desk, but his hands are made into tight fists.

"All righty," she says, handing all three of them a clipboard with a document for them to sign. "You can just sign there and your purification can begin."

Dean looks at the decorated paper he's received, resisting once again to make an inappropriate comment.

"Purity Pledge?" Castiel suddenly reads out loud, and Bonnie seems surprised to hear him for the first time since they got here. She nods quickly

"It's a commitment to your virginity," she clarifies, as if that's the most obvious thing.

"Well, aside from Cas here, I don't think we can really un-ring that bell," Dean says awkwardly, and Bonnie's smile falters a little. "You know what I mean?" Bonnie looks a little taken aback when she comes to understand what he means, and even Sam sits there a little awkwardly. Castiel just looks confused, seeming at the verge of speaking up but deciding not to.

"Oh, I see," Bonnie says. She lowers her head for a moment to think, but then the smile returns on her face, though less convincing. "Well… If you just ask for God's forgiveness for your sins and make a new vow of chastity, well, then you'll be born again as a virgin in his eyes."

Dean really has to hold back a laugh. "So you just hit the 'Virginity do-over' button, and all is good with the man upstairs?"

Castiel punches him in the arm at the mention of God. Yeah, he does that a lot. Bonnie seems irritated by Dean's choice of words. "It's not a _button_," she almost sneers, but managing to hold herself back. "And… this isn't just a piece of paper."

All three men look down to inspect the paper further, which would be hilarious for somebody watching them.

"I mean, this is your clean slate, your chance to be a virgin until marriage."

Dean frowns a little at hearing marriage, not really ready to picture that happening to any of them real soon. He lifts his writing hand in the air and smiles fakely.

"Well, you had me at 'clean slate'," he says. "Let's do this."

Then all three of them sign the paper and offer the clipboards back to Bonnie, who smiles fully again as she accepts them.

"Congratulations, Sam, Dean and Cas Winchester. All three of you are virgins."

Outside of the church, the three men get ready to get into the car. Dean is fumbling with his keys, feeling a little weird of whatever has just happened inside. He doesn't feel different. Does he _have_ to feel different? Has it not worked?

Yeah, okay, he's slightly uncomfortable from the idea of getting into a freaking chastity club. It's all such bullcap, but at least it'll help them with the case. He really shouldn't complain. A few days here, case solved, and then they're out of there so fast that creepy Bonnie-lady won't even be able to say the word _virgin_.

"So, what was that about?" Sam asks as he leans against the car.

"What are you talking about?" Dean retorts without hiding his annoyance. He finally opens the car, but remains standing outside when it's clear the other two do as well. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You said I was still a virgin?" Castiel clarifies, and nods in understanding.

"Well, yeah, it's not like you ever put that dick of yours inside somebody, nor the other way around, so in fact you're still a virgin, right?"

Sam coughs in embarrassment and he turns around, ready to throw his hands against his ear in case there's any further explicit sentences coming out of his brother's mouth. Dean just rolls his eyes at his childishness.

"Even so, Jimmy created a child with Amelia Novak, so this body isn't exactly a virgin?"

Dean shakes his head but smiles at the Angel.

"But when you were brought back from the death, you were completely rebuild, remember? Adding to that that this body is now completely yours, so now without any of Jimmy's experiences in the past you are as clean as any other virgin."

Castiel only nods quickly before getting in to the car. They share a short smile for a moment. When Sam joins in to the conversation, they're all sitting down.

"So you two never-?" he asks, but Dean interrupts him quickly.

"_None_ of your beeswax, Sammyboy," Dean bites, causing Sam to laugh. "By the way, what got your panties in a twist back there?" he then asks Castiel, referring to when they were in the office, and Castiel was all fidgety and moping.

"I don't know, for a while it felt like my Grace was limited, like I couldn't function right. It stopped as soon we left the church again," Castiel explains. The way he talks makes it clear that he's worried.

Dean nods quickly. Okay, so the church definitely has something to do with it.

* * *

_Good Faith Church, Sunday School Room  
That afternoon_

They get their invitation for the first meeting rather quickly; only a few hours after leaving the Church. After sharing their ideas about dragons over lunch, the three of them get a status report to Jody when she asks, and after that they're on their way back to the church.

The room they're in is big enough. There are six women sitting in a circle in the middle, and upon arriving, the three men each pick an empty chair at the door and add it to the group. They get interested looks, a few curious ones as well.

One blonde woman wearing a green sweater starts speaking as soon as everybody is quiet.

"Good afternoon, everyone, I'm Suzy. I thought we'd begin with a silent prayer for our missing friends," she suggests, earning her a few nods from the other women. Everybody closes their eyes as they start praying in their mind – including Sam and Castiel. Dean keeps his eyes open, though, watching everybody as they sit there.

When Sam clears his throat, Dean startles, nodding quickly before joining the others. While the women are praying, all he can think about is what he's going to eat for dinner. Maybe he can convince Cas to eat as well? That would be great, because Dean wants to introduce him to all kinds of food.

"Amen," Suzy suddenly says, causing everybody to look up again. Bonnie looks so happy after her prayer that it almost freaks Dean out. "Now, does anybody have anything that they would like to share?" The woman waits while the whole group just sits there quietly. Then, another enthusiastic redhead with curls starts talking. Even from her face, Dean knows that he won't like her.

"I wrote a new piece of verse," she says as she fishes for a pink paper out of her pocket. She stands up while she speaks. "It's called 'sex is a racket, and God's ball is in your court'."

Okay, so that girl is looney, and. Dean holds back another snort and bites his lip in the effort.

"And we would love to hear that, Tammy – later. Why don't we hear from our new friends? Sam, what brought you here to reclaim your virginity?" Suzy says. The girl, Tammy, sits back down, literally pouting. Dean can only think that he's happy she chose Sam to open up instead of Cas. Imagine what the Angel would come up with…

Sam seems to hesitate for a moment. Dean finds it hilarious how his mouth just stays open like a fish happing for air. Or water, to be correct.

"Well, I guess because every woman I've ever… had relations with, uh…" He lowers his head again. "It hasn't ended well," he finally finishes. Dean chuckles, because that's actually so true.

"He ain't lying," he says, earning him an annoyed expression for Sam.

"Thank you for being here, Sam," Suzy says. "Stay strong, stay pure."

Suddenly, all the women repeat her words. "Stay strong, stay pure."

Dean feels very uncomfortable, now.

"Cas," the woman says, pronouncing Castiel's nickname with hesitation. Only when Cas nods, she continues. "What brought you to joining our group?"

"Uh," the Angel starts, but he can't seem to continue. Dean gives him a light pat on the shoulder to give him moral support. "I'm a virgin, and I care a lot about my religion," he starts. He pronounces it all to make sure he's not lying, and Dean strangely feels very proud of him. "But lately, I've been with someone, and my focus on what I believe in has made things unclear to me, so I figured I needed something to stay on the right track."

Damn, now Cas can hold his own, that's for sure. Suzy nods again, repeating her praise for him and reciting the words again, which the other women say again afterwards.

"And you, Dean? What set you on the path away from sin?"

Ow, crap. He should have seen this coming. "Uh, it's hard to say, exactly," he mutters awkwardly. He tangles his hands together and starts to think. "Sex has always felt – I don't know – good, you know? I mean, really, really good."

Next to him, Castiel shuffles a little in his chair, but Dean ignores him. He realizes that he's talking to a group of female virgins. Maybe he shouldn't exaggerate? He quickly corrects himself.

"Uh… but, uh… sometimes it just makes you feel bad, you know? You're drunk, you shack up." Oh, no, they _don't _know. A grin starts to form on his face as he thinks of this. Fuck this exaggeration crap, he's got a few virgins to make uncomfortable!

"Then, it's the whole morning thing," he continues. "You know, '_hey, that was fun_'. And then _'Adios_', you know? Always the '_adios_'."

A few women raise their eyebrows as they listen, others look away awkwardly.

"But, you know, when you get down to it, what's the big deal, right? I mean, sure, there's the touching and the feeling all of each other, my hands everywhere, tracing every inch of their body, the two of us, moving together, pressing and pulling… grinding."

Everybody – except for Sam, of course, shifts uncomfortably in their chair. Dean grins, but just continues.

"Then you hit that sweet spot, and everything just build and builds and builds until it all just…" with his hands he makes a sudden movement that goes along with the exploding noise that comes out of his mouth. The woman that wrote a verse, Tammy, crushes her paper. The women start breathing loudly, and even Castiel seems to shudder for a moment.

Sam puts up a bitchface and clears his throat again, pulling Dean back to the real world. All the other members all look flustered from his little story, but it's only when he turns to look at Castiel that he decides he should indeed stop.

"Yeah, uh, but the whole thing was just a little too, uh, sticky," he says, not really knowing what else to call it. Hopefully, Castiel understands what he means, but the Angel doesn't show any sign that he caught that. Instead, he looks quite troubled. Shit, has he said something wrong? "So, uh, I got my 'V' card back!" At that he slaps his leg, pretending that nothing is wrong for now, adding a little '_the end_' to conclude the story.

On the other side of the circle, Bonnie shakes her head.

At the end of the session, Castiel helps the women to stack up the chairs again to where they previously were. Sam comes to join Dean where he's standing, giving him a disapproving look.

"Hm, so, wee bit of an over-share, Dean?" he asks.

"I was purifying," Dean says in his defense. Sam just rolls his eyes and Dean's eyes wander to the woman now being helped by Castiel. "Hey, she look familiar to you?"

When Sam finds who Dean is talking about, the woman thanks the Angel for his help. Dean doesn't really like that look she gives him.

"Suzy?" Sam asks.

"Yeah," Dean says, shaking his head slightly. "Swear I know her from somewhere."

"Oh, good, Dean. 'Cause that line never fails," Sam says in exasperation. Dean just ignores him.

"Well, let's find out," Dean says with a smirk, walking up towards Suzy and Cas. Before he can get far, though, he's pulled back by the arm.

"Dean! In case you've forgotten, you're in a _relationship_ for Christ's sake!" Sam hisses at him.

"Dude, I'm not gonna hit on her, I just really know her from somewhere!" Dean bites back as he pulled his arm free. He leaves Sam with Bonnie who has just come to join him, and gets to stand next to Cas. He puts a hand on the Angel's shoulder, but is surprised when Castiel shakes him off in annoyance. A little thrown off of his feet, Dean frowns a little before turning towards Suzy.

"Hey Suzy, is it just me, or have we met before?" Dean asks, knowing very well that that could easily just be a pick-up line. He just hopes that Cas won't take it that way.

"Uhm, I assure you that I don't know you," Suzy says quickly. She crosses her arms and lets out a huff of air, though the smile is still on her face. "I probably have one of those faces everybody has," she quickly adds.

"Are you sure we don't know each other?" he insists, because he could swear he's seen her before somewhere. Next to him, Castiel remains quiet, and that makes Dean uncomfortable. He just wants to touch him to reassure him that he doesn't have to worry about anything, but the Angel would probably just pull back again.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've never met, Dean," she repeats, but still smiling. Dean nods quickly, but just doesn't buy it. He wants to ask Cas if he could just check if she's lying, but the moment he's entered the church, his powers have once again wandered off.

"Wait, you're – you're new in town, right?" Suzy then asks.

"Uh, yeah, new to town, new to this whole chastity thing," Dean clarifies. When he turns around, he finds that Castiel is no longer standing next to him, having wandered back off to Sam.

"Well, I provide individual counseling. If you ever need to talk-," she explains, never really finishing her sentence. Dean's eyes fly open for a moment.

"So, everybody in the group, they dish to you?"

"They confide," Suzy explains. "Abstinence is – it's really rough without support and education." Then she makes a thinking face. "Hey, you know what? I have some great books on the vow that really helped me. I-I live close, I'll just go grab them." She's already moving towards the exit.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, with a, uh, with a kidnapper on the loose?" Dean asks, genuinely concerned for her.

"No, I'll be fine," she adds, taking another step back but once again stopped by Dean, this time with a hand on her arm.

"Tell you what – why don't Cas and I walk with you just to be safe, okay?" he offers. The woman smiles at him. "Just give me one second."

He walks back to Sam and Cas, who are now listening to Tammy rant about something. Sam looks so done with her, but Cas seems very interested in everything she tells them. Dean smiles at seeing the Angel like that. He gestures for Sam to come, and Sam excuses them, dragging Cas along with him as he joins Dean.

"Cas, I need you to be bodyguard with me," he starts while picking up his jacket. "You need to check Suzy for me as soon as we're out of here, because I can _swear_ I've seen her before!"

Castiel just grumbles in response, which isn't really what Dean's been expecting.

"Excuse me, what was that?" he asks.

"I said, just go by yourself," Castiel snaps, startling Dean and Sam. "I'm sure it'll come up to you anyway, you don't need me."

After that, the Angel storms off, leaving the room so angrily that nobody dares to ask what's wrong. Dean gulps in surprise from the sudden outburst, and to make it worse Sam punches him in the arm.

"Hey, what was that for?" Dean complains.

"I just hope you know what you're doing," Sam bites before running after Cas. Somehow, Dean feels like he should be the one doing that.

"Is there a problem, Dean?" Suzy asks. Dean recovers quickly, hating the fact that he's so familiar with that face. He's _not_ cheating on Cas, he has no intention to do anything with this woman because, despite his many faults, at least he's faithful.

"It's just me, apparently. Just lead the way," Dean says. Suzy nods

When they arrive at the apartment, it's awkwardly quiet. Dean silences a call from Sam, and the moment he looks up, Suzy's crying. She's sad for her friend's disappearance, and for the first few minutes they spend praying on the couch. In the meantime, Dean is still no closer to recognizing her.

After that, she offers him the books she was talking about, and then she excuses herself when she needs to go to the toilet. A loud sigh escapes Dean's mouth as he gets frustrated by the fact he can't place her, and he goes to put the books on one of the counters. Once again, his cellphone goes off, and this time he picks up.

Before he can put the phone to his ear, though, he notices that one of the drawers is open, and a flashy DVD-box is inside. He can hear Sam call out his name on the other side of the line, but he ignores that and opens the drawer a little further, finding that there are two boxes, both of them from _Casa Erotica_.

His mouth falls open when he looks at the woman on the cover. On the first one called Cabana Nights she's naked except for wearing panties, and she has her arms crossed in front of her breasts, in her hands holding a pair of samba shakers.

When he looks at her face, the connection is made. Barely able to hold back a surprised shout, Dean turns to the bathroom Suzy went to, and finally realizes that she's the one on the box.

So _that's_ why she looked familiar!

_Holy Crap_!

"_Dean?_"

Dean finally snaps out of his shock of his new discovery, putting the phone to his ear at last. "Sammy! Hey!" he says, a little too loudly.

"_What's going on?"_ Sam asks in confusion.

"I found something big!" Dean can't really find the right words whatever this big thing is. His brother won't ever believe him!

"_Yeah, so did we. So get this – it's not a dragon!" _Sam reveals as Dean takes out the second DVD-box, recognizing this one as one he's seen a few years ago. Holy crap, this can't be true. Holy shit holy shit holy shit!

"Uh," is all that can escape Dean's mouth and he drops the DVD's back into the drawer. "I really need to get back to the hotel," he says, because how can he stay here when he's had fantasies about this woman well before they met?

Before Sam can say anything else, Dean hangs up, pushing the drawer shut and leaning against the whole counter. He can feel his face coloring red.

"Hola," he says, mentally slapping himself for that little slip. He pushes himself off the counter, ready to go back to the door and rejoining Sam and Cas in the hotel. He's going to apologize to Cas so many times, and he's sure Sam will be laughing about this for the next few years.

"Hola?" Suzy asks surprised. Dean shakes his head quickly?

"Nothing, never mind, my head slips into Italian sometimes without any reason," Dean explains, knowing very well that that excuse doesn't even make sense. He _really_ needs to leave.

"Are you okay?" she asks. Dean nods quickly.

"Me? I'm great, very great!" Dean says. See how the mighty have fallen; only a year ago he would have flirted the woman out of her clothes, but now all he can think about is Cas. Where is Cas, why isn't Cas here?

"You seem, I don't know, nervous?" she asks with worry. Dean shakes his head again.

"No, no no no, don't worry. I just realized that Cas and I have a date tonight, and I really need to get ready for that."

Yeah, using the '_I'm already taken_' excuse will make things easier, right?

Suddenly a knock comes on the door, and both Dean and Suzy look up in surprise. The woman frowns for a moment when the knocking comes again, only faster.

"_Dean?_"

It's Cas! Cas is on the other side of the door! Sam probably sent him! Oh, thank who-ever is listening.

"Ah, I should really go," Dean says. He waves awkwardly at the woman, picks up his jacket, and hurries to the door. "I'm sorry for… not being able to read the books, maybe another time," Dean adds hurriedly, and then he's through the door.

Okay, _what_ was that? Unable to speak, Dean looks up at Castiel, who inspects him in worry, checking if he has any injuries.

"Dean, what happened?" Castiel asks, but Dean shuts him up by kissing him, hard. He crushes their lips together, wraps his arms around him, and holds on tightly. Castiel makes a surprised sound, but luckily he doesn't pull back this time.

"Get us out of here, Cas," Dean then whispers against the Angel's mouth, and Castiel does what he's told. In a matter of milliseconds they find themselves in their empty hotel-room rented. Sam is probably still in the other one, along with Jody.

"Dean, I felt your distress and I came right here as fast as I could. Can you just explain what was going on? Who was that girl?" Castiel insists. Dean just holds on to his hands, and even lifts Castiel's left one to his lips to kiss his knuckles lightly.

"I knew she was familiar," Dean breathes out. He throws his head back and laughs, much to Castiel's annoyance. "She was a porn star, I used to watch her video's a few years back."

Somehow, Castiel doesn't seem to like that answer, and he pulls away from Dean again. This time he doesn't run off, but instead turns his back to the hunter. He comes to stand next to the window, watching the people outside as they walk on by.

"Okay, _what_ is your problem?" Dean finally asks in annoyance. Castiel shakes his head faintly. His arms are crossed again.

"You just seem to forget asking me about my opinion of things quite a lot lately," Castiel mutters. He doesn't turn to look at Dean as he speaks. "I just feel like I'm dragged along and I have to agree to everything you do or say; like I have to follow orders again."

Dean's face falls when he hears the heartbroken sound of Castiel's voice. He then starts to walk forward again, getting closer to the Angel in a very slow pace. He has his hand held out in front of him, but when he's at touching distance, he doesn't quite yet reach for him.

"I also have this fear that one day you'll leave me to be with some other woman, because that's what you're comfortable with."

"Cas," Dean whispers. What really can he say?

"I just wish my vessel had been a female," Castiel adds quietly, which almost breaks Dean's heart. He hates that Castiel thinks that's a thing that bothers him. "Things would have been so much easier."

"What would have been so much easier?" Dean asks, and now he finally wraps his arms around Castiel, hugging him from behind. The Angel leans into the touch, much to Dean's relief. His eyes are closed, and when he turns his face around to press against Dean's neck, he starts talking again.

"The sex," Castiel mutters. He links his fingers with Dean's, and the hunter lets him.

"But Cas, the sex already is amazing."

"You know what I mean, Dean," Castiel grumbles.

And Dean indeed knows what Castiel means. He nods softly, thinking about what he's going to say next.

"You say I don't ask after your opinion enough," Dean starts. "I'm asking now."

Castiel stays quiet for a moment, and then he pulls away from the embrace. He snaps his fingers to start the light in the room, and in a quick movement, he closes the curtains. When he turns back to Dean, he's already busy opening his shirt.

"I want you to make love to me, Dean," Castiel whispers. Dean swallows. "I want you not to hold back, because you won't hurt me. You could never hurt me."

That is too much praise. Dean feels his shoulders getting heavy at the words Castiel is speaking out. The Angel ignores it, though, and keeps undressing himself. He's already fumbling the button of his pants open before Dean's hands reach for his wrists to stop him.

"Cas, are you _sure_ this is what you want?" the hunter asks. Castiel's blue eyes meet his, and they look honest. The Angel nods at him, leaning forward to catch his lips for another kiss. Then he moves his head next to Dean's, with his mouth to his ear.

"Please, Dean," he whispers as he pulls of Dean's jacket and plaid shirt. "I want you inside me, to feel you." They part shortly when Castiel takes Dean's shirt off, kissing the hunter again when the clothing has passed his face and is thrown on the floor.

Dean's hand travel all over Castiel's now naked body, feeling every part again and again in gentle caresses. When he pushes the Angel back on the bed, he comes to lean over him, softly kissing his neck, then getting lower and lower until his lips are hovering above Castiel's belly button.

Castiel gasps out from those feather light touches. He keeps his hands behind his head, surrendering to Dean like Dean did to him the last night. Dean holds on to Castiel's hips as he kisses the Angel even lower, stopping right before he gets to his pubic regions. For a few seconds he closes his lips over a few hairs, and he pulls gently, not meaning to hurt him in any way. Once again, Castiel gasps for air, still not making any sound.

"You like this?" Dean asks as he lowers himself on Castiel, spreading the Angel's legs so he can fit his hips between them. He rubs his face on Castiel's thigh, enjoying the touch so much he never wants to let go. Castiel reaches for Dean's head, letting his fingers through the hunter's hair as he moves.

Dean doesn't wait for Castiel to answer that, but instead resumes the kissing, pressing his lips in his inner thighs.

"Dean, please," Castiel suddenly begs, and Dean looks up to watch his Angel. He's already glowing, faintly, though, seeing as they've just started. He presses a hand on Dean's face and strokes his cheek with his thumb, eyes silently pleading for more. Dean nods quickly and gets out of the bed to get to their bag – they share one, but let's be honest here, Castiel doesn't really has a need for other clothes, right?

After finding the tube and packet he's been looking for, he returns to his Angel, dropping the things next to them. He doesn't want to start just yet; he's having too much fun teasing Cas for now.

Dean kisses him again while opening the tube, noticing how Castiel follows his every movement.

"You _do_ know what we're about to do, right?" Dean asks. To be honest, he himself only recently did research on the matter, just to be prepared whenever Castiel would be ready for it. It had been like arriving into a whole new world. He noticed details he would never have thought of, positions that would make it easier for a first time – though, Castiel swears that he won't feel any possible pain, so Dean guesses it won't really matter on that front, right? Still, better be sure.

Dean pulls a little at Castiel's shoulder to get him to turn around, which Castiel does in his confusion. He lies down on his stomach, allowing Dean to slowly kiss his back. Dean presses his face against the places where he would imagine Castiel's wings being, and that gets such a positive response – an actual moan from Castiel's lips – that Dean makes a note to remember that for the future.

"Tell me what you're doing," Castiel begs. His fingers grip the pillow tight. "I want to know everything."

Dean smiles his teeth bare, and nibs a little bit at the skin on the Angel's back. Another loud breath escapes from Castiel's lips. Then he holds his hands together and squeezes on the tube to let a big amount of lube on his hand. He coats his fingers with it, rubbing them together to warm it up a little bit.

"First of all you need to relax," Dean says with a soft voice, pressing one last kiss on Castiel's lower back before reaching his hand to Castiel's ass. "Now I'm going to prepare you, because even though you don't feel pain, I want to do this the right way."

Castiel nods, and Dean takes that as his cue. With his lips resting on Castiel's shoulder blades, he presses his first finger inside his Angel. The glow on his skin gets even brighter, and his breathing gets even harder.

"This good?" Dean asks, not daring to move his finger until Cas tells him to.

"Y-yes," the Angel mutters. That's Dean's cue to move. He pushes the finger in completely, then pulls out slightly, only to push back in. Castiel seems to relax immediately, because it isn't long before Dean can add his second finger. When he does, he goes slowly again, letting Castiel adjust to the sudden addition.

"Dean," Castiel whispers. His glow seems to flicker a little bit. It's only when he looks up that he notices the lights have been turned off.

"Did you shut the lights?" Dean asks. Castiel nods quickly.

"Don't need them," he breathes out, "I'm enough of a light source."

Dean chuckles at that. "Yeah, that you are." He continues in this slow pace, working Cas open until he's four fingers in. The whole process has required for him to add extra lube when he had arrived at the third finger, and now the gel is almost everywhere.

Slowly, he pulls his fingers back out, making a face when the slick makes a nasty sound. Quickly, he cleans his hand on the sheets, feeling sorry for the maid who has to clean their room. Then, Dean positions himself right on top of Cas, hips resting on his lower back. Dean's lips connect with Castiel's for a moment.

"Now, I'm going in," he says, discarding the condom because there's no possible danger for them. Cas is an Angel, he can't catch anything, so he's pretty safe. "You just take a deep breath, and if you need me to pull out, just ask."

Castiel nods once again, but right before Dean can push forward, he's stopped by Castiel's hands. The Angel scrambles upright for a moment, wrapping his arms around Dean's shoulders and kissing him quickly.

"Not like this, I want to see you," Castiel tells him with his nose rubbing against Dean's neck. How could Dean ever deny him? He nods quickly and pushes Cas back on his back. Then his hands travel to Castiel's legs, pushing them apart a little bit, and lifting them up. Dean has done enough research to know that this only makes it easier for both of them.

"Lift up your hips," Dean tells him, and Castiel does, allowing Dean to put a pillow underneath him. Content with the new position they have, Dean kisses Castiel one more time. They share one moment of eye contact before Dean pushes in at last.

"Oh!" Dean almost shouts out with all his breath pushed out of his lungs. He grits his teeth together and keeps still for a moment. He's barely inside, but he doesn't want to do this too fast.

He finds Castiel not much better than him. His blue glow now completely lights up the room, and Dean can see how his eyes are squeezed shut. He's biting his lower lip, taking another deep breath as he adjusts to the sudden intrusion.

"You okay?" Dean asks breathily, and Castiel nods shortly. His mouth falls open, his hands reach for the pillow behind him again, and he holds it tight. With a small movement of his hips he makes it clear that he wants Dean to continue, so the hunter does. He gets in deeper again, wary of Castiel's expressions, and eventually he's all in. After that, he loses his balance and drops down on Cas, trying to catch his breath for a moment.

"Seriously, Cas," Dean gets out, shaking his head for a little moment. "These multiplied feelings will be the death of me."

Castiel laughs at that. His right hand goes to the back of Dean's head, and he pulls him back up for a quick kiss.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you back," Castiel says, and now both men laugh. "Now, can you please _move_?"

Dean nods again, this time leaning on his elbow, and he starts taking slow thrusts to begin with. Castiel pushes back with his hips, shudders when Dean's free hand finds his thigh and pushes his leg back up. They don't lose eye contact during the whole thing. Castiel's touches him everywhere. Dean lets out small moans from the intensity of those caresses.

"So good, Cas," Dean mutters as he speeds up his movements. He grits his teeth for a moment, enjoying how Castiel pushes back to his thrusts. It allows him to get in much deeper, and that's actually what Dean wants.

He knows he's found Castiel's prostate when the Angel finally lets out a moan as well. It sounds so surprised, as if the sudden intensity coming from that bundle of nerves inside his body has just snuck up on him and thrown his off his feet. His eyes shoot wide open, his fingers make scratch marks on Dean's back.

"You okay?" Dean asks, squinting his eyes from the intensity of the glow. "Damn, that's a lot of light."

"Please do that again," Castiel begs him. Dean complies, pushing back the same way he did previously, and once again Castiel practically arches off the bed with an even louder moan. "Ahh!" he breathes out. Dean smiles, repeating the notion again and again, building up to his climax.

Judging from the breaths the Angel makes, he's nearing too. So Dean lets go of Castiel's leg to reach between them, grabbing his length in hand and stroking it, matching the speed of his thrusts. His partner throws his head back, baring his neck like he's inviting Dean to kiss him again. So Dean does, reaching forward again and starting to suck at the skin on Castiel's throat, leaving small kisses on every bit of skin he finds.

"Dean," Castiel whispers. Dean pulls back, eyes widening when he suddenly sees the white light surrounding them.

"Holy shit!" he calls out, watching how the two giant white wings folds up around them, as if shielding them from anybody else. They look so real, so clean, so strong, but still intangible. He wonders what would happen if he would touch them. He let's go of Castiel in order to reach his hand out, needing to feel those feathers on his fingers.

He makes contact with them the moment Castiel's hand finds the handprint he's left on Dean when he pulled him from Hell, and then everything seems to explode. Castiel screams out as he reaches the climax, spurting his load all over his stomach with a pleading sound in his throat. Dean, though, feels this strong wave of… whatever it is, travelling all over his body, starting from his fingers to his arms, upper body. It goes everywhere, and when it reaches the handprint, Castiel whimpers again.

Dean realizes that he's come as well, taken aback by how he hasn't even noticed that happening thanks to that sudden thing that has happened to them. Still, Dean doesn't move away, but instead drops down on Castiel's body. His heart is racing, probably a little bit too fast. He needs to calm down before he gets a heart attack.

"Dean," Castel whispers with a shaky voice. "I didn't know you were able to see my wings," he adds. Dean smiles against Castiel's neck. He doesn't make any indication to move again, but neither seem to mind.

"That was the _most_ amazing thing I've ever felt," Dean breathes out. His hand reaches out for Castiel's wings again, slowly caressing the white feathers. "I always imagined your wings black."

Castiel makes a movement at that, as if he takes a look himself. "My wings _are _black," he says in confusion. "At least, in Heaven they are."

"Huh, maybe they lightened up because of the glow?" Dean asks. Castiel shrugs, smiling against Dean's head.

"I don't even know anymore," he says. "All I know is that I definitely want to do this again."

"Agreed." They remain quiet for a moment, but then Dean starts again. "Cas?"

"Hmm?"

"You shouldn't worry about me running off with some other girl," Dean says. He finally comes upright again, slowly pulling out of Cas and reaching for an abandoned shirt on the floor to clean them both up. He doesn't look at Cas while he passes the white shirt over him. "I might have many faults, but being unfaithful isn't one of them."

Cas looks at him intensely, staying quiet until Dean throws the shirt away again.

"Okay," he says. Dean looks up at him.

"Okay," he repeats, offering Castiel one last kiss before getting out of bed. "Well, now we need to get an update from Sam and Jody, because we're still on the job."

Both men start to get dressed, shooting each other playful glances, and when they're finally fully clothed they head to the door. Before they can open it, though, there's a knock coming from the other side. In confusion, Dean looks at Cas, who only shrugs. But then, his eyes go wide again. Dean catches it too late, though, having already opened the door. The next thing both see are bright blue flames, and then everything gets black.

* * *

_Unknown location, a few hours later_

"_Dean"_

_"Hey, come on."_

_"Dean."_

_"Dean!"_

Dean is slowly shaken awake by two gentle hands, and the first thing he can feel is a strong pain on the back of his head. He holds back a groan, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Hmmwhere are we?" he asks while rubbing his eyes. When he looks up, he can see Castiel's concerned face staring back at him. They are lying on the floor, next to a ladder. They're surrounded by three people; two women and one man. Dean recognizes them as the missing persons from Jody's report file.

"Hell," the man says to him, and Dean could roll his eyes at him. He doesn't even have any idea what Hell really is like. Slowly, Castiel gets him back up so that everybody is standing. Dean leans against the ladder, not steady on his feet yet. He looks around the room, trying to take in the place they've been thrown in.

Maybe the ladder? He just needs to open that trap door, right? He gives Castiel's shoulders a light squeeze and then turns around to climb after taking over the lantern from the girl that would probably be Honor. The other four don't speak at all, but just watch him as he gets higher and higher.

He should have known that the thing wouldn't budge. Even when he pushes all his weight to it, it makes no use. He's only getting his already sore muscles tired, and he should really hold on to whatever energy he has left to find a decent plan of escape.

"We tried," the man that must be Neil says. "There's no escape."

"So what, there's a window so we will obviously not die of air deprivation," Dean says as he thinks out loud.

"Somebody wants us to die nice and slow," Neil adds to that train of thought. The girl that still looks sane, Honor, looks up at Dean again.

"And then it's gonna take us, just like it took Pastor Fred," she says. Castiel comes to stand next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What took him?" he asks. The girl shakes her head, and her voice is trembling when she continues to speak.

"We couldn't see exactly. It – it was so bright, it was like it was on fire."

Dean gives the door one more push, but after that he finally decides that it's not worth the trouble. He won't get it open.

"Son of a bitch," he mutters to himself while he climbs back down. The moment he touches the ground he faces Castiel, who now has his arms wrapped around himself as if he's cold.

"You okay, babe?" he asks Castiel, offering him his jacket. Castiel gladly accepts hit, letting himself be hugged by Dean for a moment.

"It's because of what we did, isn't it?" Castiel asks against Dean's chest. The hunter doesn't answer, but instead kisses the Angel on the top of his head. When he sees that all the others have retreated already, he decides it's safe to ask.

"How did it get to _you_?" Dean asks. They let go of each other, but remain close enough to hear each other whisper.

"My powers, they're muted. I suspect Angel sigils. I felt it when you opened the door, but it was already too late."

Dean nods and presses his hand against his chin as he starts thinking again. His other hand instinctively reaches for his phone, only to find it gone.

"Son of a-," he starts, though he shouldn't be surprised. Kidnapping 101, right?

"What's wrong?" Castiel asks.

"They took my phone," Dean explains. Then he reaches for his jacket Castiel is now wearing, and starts to fumble at the buttons. Castiel's eyes widen in surprise when Dean rips the fabric open, fishing out another phone from it.

"How long has that been in there?" he asks dryly. Dean shoots him a pointed look, but then turns to the phone. He holds it in the air as he tries to find a signal.

"Come on, bars," he cheers the phone on. At the corner of his eyes he can see Honor look up at him when he passes. He must probably pass every corner of the dungeon, but only when he gets to a little raster, a little bar appears.

"Holy-!" he shouts in relief, calling Sam without trying to move from where he is. Castiel still stands behind him, but doesn't make any indication of coming closer.

He hears the phone going over, trying to get a connection with Sam. When suddenly he hears his brother's voice on the other side of the line, he practically shouts in relief.

"Sam! Sammy!" he yells,

"_Dean, hey!"_ Sam says.

"Hey listen to me, Cas and I are stuck here in the room with the other missing persons. It's probably somewhere underground."

_"Say – again – can't…"_ is all Dean hears from the other side of the line. Fuck!

"We're trapped in some kind of dungeon!" Dean shouts then, but the only thing he hears is a beeping noise. Crap! He's lost the connection.

"Don't, Neil. Please, don't," suddenly sounds from behind him. Both Dean and Castiel turn around to the engaged couple. The woman, Barb, is hunched forward with her hands reaching for her fiancé.

"Don't _what_, Neil?" Dean asks irritated. He really doesn't like this man.

"Just mind your beeswax, pal," Neil shoots back.

Nope, that doesn't sit well with Dean. He tilts his head to the side for a moment, angrily looking at the other man. Then he slaps his cellphone shut and marches over to the couple.

"Listen, we're all stuck down here together," he bites. He's happy he's taller than him, so at least he appears intimidating. "So you got something to say, you say it."

"Okay, look, whatever that fireball thing was, it's taking the weakest, and I'm not gonna be next," Neil says, pointing at Honor. "So the way I see it, her leg's busted anyway. We serve her up. It could buy us some time."

"Screw you, Neil," Honor shoots back angrily. Dean is really starting to lose his patience. He grabs Neil by his white shirt and shoves him against the wall.

"_Busted leg_?" he asks, "Try a sprained ankle, okay? Nobody's serving anybody up!"

"We are under the gallows, all of us. Give it Honor, it might save the rest of our necks. Unless you have a better plan," Neil defends himself.

"Maybe I do," Dean says, trying to control his anger. "Maybe we'll give him you." When he sees Neil's reaction to that, he continues. "Oh, what, you don't like that idea? Then shut up!"

After that he lets Neil go and walks away, returning to the little raster again. Honor shoots him a thankful look, and Dean only nods in return. Once he's back at the raster, he fumbles a little bit with the metal bars, trying to pull them loose. Castiel joins him again, but doesn't offer to help him. Both of them know that it's no use. Unless he miraculously restores his powers, there's no way they could crawl their way out of here through that raster.

"We'll find a way," Castiel says when Dean turns around again. They press their foreheads together for a little while, for a moment seeking comfort and inspiration from each other.

They pull apart when a sound comes from above. Dean and Castiel both walk up to the ladder again, but the others hide away. Neil is literally freaking out.

"Told you! It's back for one of us! What are you gonna do now? Right, you should have listened to me-!" Okay, the guy is going crazy.

"Shhh," Dean quiets him with his hand in a silencing gesture. "Shut up."

"Dean," Castiel whispers to him, but he stays quiet when they hear multiple voices from upstairs. It sounds muffled, but then, they can finally make out some of the words.

"_Dean, Cas! We're here! We're gonna get you out!_"

* * *

_Next morning, at the hotel._

"Heading out?" Sam asks Jody, who has her bag already thrown over her shoulder. She smiles up at him, resting a hand on his shoulder and nodding.

"Yeah…" she says. "I'd tell you boys to stay out of trouble, but what's the point?" Then she turns to Castiel. "Besides, with that Angel on your side, no harm will come to, I'm sure."

"Great help I was," Castiel mumbles. Jody just walks up to him and wraps him in a strong hug. Castiel returns the gesture.

"Hush, without you I would have been walking around with a sling or something," she says, chuckling. Then she lets go of Cas and turns to Dean. The older hunter hugs her as well.

"Thanks for bailing us out," he says.

"Oh, what can I say? I'm getting the hang of this." Sam hands her over her other bag, and she takes it from him, still smiling.

"Drive safe," Sam warns her, causing her to laugh even further.

"Oh, before I go," she says as she has her hand on the doorknob, "I'm happy for you two, Dean and Cas."

Dean lowers his head with a blush on his face, Castiel only thanks her. After that she's gone, and the three of them go and sit down at the table again. It was there that Sam and Jody had explained their side of the story; how they discovered it had been the Goddess Vesta that had taken them for breaking their chastity vow (the pair had looked away in embarrassment at that statement, but luckily, neither Sam nor Jody had asked about it), how she had apparently noticed Cas when he arrived in the church and quickly set up some sigils to ground him, how Sam had distracted her and Jody had stabbed her in the back with a wounded arm. After that, they'd gotten the other three people out of there and back to their homes, and Castiel had cleaned them up again. He'd healed Jody as well, which was why she now had been moving around as wildly as she previously did.

Now that Jody's gone, though, Sam doesn't seem to hold back. He smirks to himself, and neither Dean nor Cas like that expression on his face. They can almost guess what's coming next.

"So, you two finally…" he asks without finishing his sentence. Dean throws him an annoyed look, and instead of answering he pushes his little brother's head down and gets up to pack his stuff again.

"Hey, I just want to say congratulations, man!" Sam tries in his defense.

They make their way back home after twenty minutes of getting ready.


End file.
